


Caretaker

by PunnyPearl



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Character Development, Eventual Professor Reader, First Work on here!, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Not Beta Read, Slow Build, Slow Burn, disabled pokemon, hurt pokemon, not sure how to tag, you are eight in the beginning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:21:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 37,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23090038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PunnyPearl/pseuds/PunnyPearl
Summary: “I think I want to help Pokemon.” I blurt without really knowing what I’m saying. Leon gives me a questioning glance, clearly confused by my choice of wording. “ I mean, I want to rehabilitate them. You see, my eevee… She can’t see. But I’ve been helping her learn how to use her other senses to guide her. And it’s really helped! And when I see her succeed in something that she couldn’t do before, I just get this feeling. Like I’m accomplishing something. Like I’m really making a difference. Do you know what I mean?”
Relationships: Beet | Bede/Reader, Dande | Leon/Reader, Hop (Pokemon)/Reader, Kibana | Raihan/Reader, Makuwa | Gordie/Reader, Nezu | Piers (Pokemon)/Reader, Rurina | Nessa/Reader, Yarrow | Milo/Reader
Comments: 45
Kudos: 343





	1. A New Friend

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for checking out my work! I'm not really sure how this is gonna turn out, all I know is that it'll be a while for the romance to really take place. However, I do have some plans for fun extra chapters, so stay tuned! This is gonna be mostly fluff with a lot of character building. Updates are kinda when I feel like it. I hope you guys have fun!

A small creature slowly crawls forward, their fur practically shimmering in the afternoon light. They are small and frail and covered in brown. Their head is ducked into their cream colored mane. Despite the creature being at least a few months old, their eyes are still closed as though they were a newborn. 

Blind.

This poor creature is blind and confused. They don’t know who I am. They don’t know that I don’t want to hurt them. All that they know is that I am here and that they could be hurt if they don’t do something quickly.

So they do the only thing that they can. They lash out and attack. Letting out a shrill cry, they lunge at me and chomp down on my arm. Their teeth sink so deep that I’m sure it will leave a scar. But I don’t scream. I don’t even cry. Rather, I let out a little coo, like a mother trying to soothe a child. Their jaw loosens at my sound, but they don’t let up. I keep my body completely still yet relaxed as they shake themselves out of their confusion and bite even stronger than before.

Slowly, gently, I raise my free arm and stroke the creature’s soft fur. It lets out a breathy cry, a little like a moan. So this creature is not only blind but touch-starved as well. Perhaps they were abandoned. Be it from a trainer or their family is anyone’s guess. I continue my calming strokes until, eventually, they loosen their hold on my arm altogether. I watch a small amount of blood drip from my arm but pay it no mind as I lock gazes with the creature who had created the punctures.

“Hey there… It’s alright, I won’t hurt you.” I whisper, trying my best to calm the still panicked creature down. Their ears flatten against their head and they back up from me, but stay just within reach. As if they are afraid to leave. What strange behavior.

“Do you want an oran berry?” I ask, slowly reaching into my backpack’s front pocket to reach the sour treat. The creature sniffs the air curiously at the scent of the fruit, and it’s stomach rumbles from hunger. I let out a little giggle and roll the berry right in front of the Pokemon. They hesitate a moment before digging right in, their hunger overshadowing their caution.

Once it is finished eating, it seems to realize how precarious a situation it is in and backs up another step. I stay right where I am, not moving towards it nor drawing away. It lets out a curious noise before prancing away. I sigh and stand up, dusting off my shorts then wincing at the sting that runs through my arm where the creature had latched onto. The one time I need it, I leave my medical kit at home. Oh well. I’ll just brave the lecture when it comes. For now, I need to start heading back home.

Before I can even take a step forward, however, the creature from before comes bounding forward, a hesitant look on its face. I crouch down to greet it. When I do, it pounces on my head. But it has no ill intent, no malicious thoughts when it circles around in my hair then finally settles, looking more like a raccoon skin cap then a petite fox. I chuckle at its actions but decide to let it be. Finally, I set off, back towards my home and my eventual lecture about safety from my mum. Oh joy. Well, at least now I have a new friend.


	2. Accomplishments

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy!

“(Y/N)! There you are! I thought your mum was never gonna let you out of your house.” A voice calls from afar. I glance up and see a head of purple hair covered by a hat with a few logos stuck on it. Picking up my pace, I jog over to meet with him. He envelopes me in a hug and I catch a whiff of lavender and smoke. I guess his Charmander decided to try a few moves on him.

“Try as she might, she can’t deny that I need to go to school. It’s too bad I missed your mum’s barbecue, though. Her cooking is ace!” I tell him animatedly. He chuckles at me, but then seems to realize why I had been looking down earlier. There, bundled in my arms was a sleeping eevee, snoring away peacefully.

“Wowie, (Y/N), issat an eevee? I didn’t think that your mum wanted you to have a Pokemon for another two years.” He states, but it’s almost like a question. I can understand his confusion. My mom was adamant about me not getting a Pokemon until I was at least ten. But when she set her eyes on Eevee, she immediately knew that we couldn’t just throw her out. So, she let me keep her, as long as I promised not to get into any fights and as long as I kept her clean. I saw her conditions as a challenge, so I promised her that I wouldn’t let her down and bolted for my room. Of course, I was grounded for the weekend since I came home a bloody, battered mess. But I still had school, and she couldn’t deny me from getting an education!

“Yeah, I was surprised when she said I could keep her, too. But I think she realized I’d just keep sneaking out to see her if she didn’t let me keep her. She said something like ‘this child’s gonna be the death of me’, or something like that. But I would never kill my mommy!” I exclaim, letting out an indignant huff. Leon laughs and pats me on the back in reassurance, but he’s so much bigger than me that I stumble forward and nearly fall but right myself just in time.

“Ah, sorry about that, (Y/N). Anyway, we should be heading to school. Can you believe we only have a month before the year ends?” He asks, a fire burning in his eyes. I smile and nod, but feel a pang in my chest. Leon is going to be turning ten during summer break, meaning that he can officially start his journey. Since most parents have been complaining about their children setting out so young, the Chairman made a system where you had to be endorsed in order to really set out. But that didn’t stop Leon. He already had plenty of people lining up to give him a full ride scholarship to any job you could think of, but what he really had his eyes set on was going through the gym challenge and becoming Champion.

It’s quite hard to get people to endorse you to go through the gym challenge. Nearly impossible, I heard. But after a spectacular preliminary performance, Leon rang up quite a few potential donors. I sigh at the thought of him leaving and not coming back for a few months, but when I feel his worrying gaze on me I immediately mold my face into something happier.

“Y’know, Leon, you could wait a couple years before you set out on your journey. Maybe get some practice in, or build up your team. You don’t have to set out right away.” I tell him, trying to convince him to stay at least until I’m out of school. Maybe by then I could work up the courage to tell him about my feelings. 

“I know you don’t want me to leave, but it won’t be forever. I’ll come back to visit often! Besides, it’s not like I can just leave you, or Hop, on your own. You’d probably end up stuck in a ditch somewhere with your clumsiness.” He says, a slightly haughty lilt to his tone. I pout at his remark, but then my eyes light up with the perfect comeback.

“At least I won’t get lost in a ditch somewhere, unlike you. I bet you won’t even be able to find the first gym!” I tell him, a slight smirk gracing my face. He sputters out a response, but I pay him no mind as I continue on. “By the way, where is Hop?” I ask, looking around for the little six year old. I’ve never really seen Leon without Hop, or would it be Hop without Leon? At this point, it’s kinda hard to tell who sticks with who. They are always stuck at the hip with each other, always running around and yelling at every single thing. 

“Ah, he got sick over the weekend, so he’s gonna stay home today. But since you’re not grounded anymore, feel free to come over and greet the little guy. He was missing you over the weekend.” Leon explains, not really looking at me. Something tells me that it was more than just Hop who missed me.

“Yeah, I’ll probably be over later. Since I had so much free time at home over the past couple days, I managed to make some treats. Hop probably shouldn’t be eating sugar since he’s sick, but what your mum doesn’t know won’t hurt her.” I say with a wink and a wicked grin. It’s not that I like going against Leon’s mom, especially since she’s always so nice to me, but she’s a little strict, especially on Hop. He’s always overshadowed by Leon’s amazing performance, so she scolds him all the time. I feel bad for him, but I know he hates it when I talk about it, so I rather just spoil the kid. If you aren’t getting the love you deserve from one outlet, try the next one, as my mom says. Now that I think about it, that’s not the best rule to live by.

“Oh, nice! He’ll be really excited. Your food’s always the best. Didn’t you say you wanted to open a bakery when you got older?” Leon asks, drooling at the thought of my baked goods. I begin to nod, but stop when I look down at my new partner. Eevee was in such a bad condition, and she still is, but with a little bit of love and kindness, she’s already begun to get better. She’s still a little incapacitated by her blindness, but I’ve been working on strengthening her sense of hearing and smell. I think…

“I think I want to help Pokemon.” I blurt without really knowing what I’m saying. Leon gives me a questioning glance, clearly confused by my choice of wording. “ I mean, I want to rehabilitate them. You see, my eevee… She can’t see. But I’ve been helping her learn how to use her other senses to guide her. And it’s really helped! And when I see her succeed in something that she couldn’t do before, I just get this feeling. Like I’m accomplishing something. Like I’m really making a difference. Do you know what I mean?” I ask, a pleading look in my eyes. I want him to understand what I’m talking about. No, I need him to understand. Everybody should know what that feeling is like.

“I know what you mean, (Y/N). It’s the feeling I get at the end of a battle, when Charmander lets out his last move. It’s like you’re everywhere yet nowhere at the same time. Like your whole life led up to that moment, that one little pocket of time, teetering on the edge of winning and losing, and your heart is giving it’s all, screaming at you, telling you that ‘this is it!’ And then it happens. And everything is ablaze, but it’s all so perfect and you look down and you know. You know that you did that. You made that, with your own heart and your own hands and it’s perfect.” He says, his voice cracking as he looks down at his hands which are balled into fists with the passion of his speech. I look at him in awe, seeing a side of him that I always knew existed but could never reach. I shift eevee into one of my arms and reach out with my other to grip his hand. He blinks and looks at our entwined hands before a bright grin crosses his features and he latches onto me. I smile back at him, but am suddenly pulled roughly forward, being dragged behind him. “C’mon, we’re gonna be late to school.” He says, huffing from the effort of pulling me and keeping up a brisk pace at the same time.

“You can’t just belt out some Shakespeare then act like nothing happened! Leon!” I shout, but he acts like he can’t hear me and keeps tugging me forward. We reach the school in record time, both of us panting and out of breath. When I look up and see the sun glittering in his amber eyes, I know. He’s not just putting on a show. This is who he truly is. It’s on this day that I decide on two things. One; I want to help Pokemon who truly need it, and Two; I am going to cheer for Leon until the day that I die.


	3. Enter the Dragon Tamer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome Back! I hope you enjoy!

School is boring. There’s not much else to say. Since all of my friends are either older or younger than me, I don’t talk to too many people during classes. The few that I do ask about Eevee then go immediately back to work once I mention that she can’t battle. The teachers seem a little surprised about my new addition, too, but don’t say much. Once gym class starts, though, is when the real fun begins

“Gym” class is more like training for the gym challenge then an actual physical education class. They still have us run miles and do simple stretches but the main basis is learning about how to survive a basic encounter, teaching children the basic type advantages, and occasionally going outside for the older kids to have gym battles.

Today, we are learning all about camping. Eevee finally decides to get up at the sounds of children giggles and the feeling of the sun's warmth beaming down on us. The teacher had just instructed us to go into groups and pitch a tent with the warning that you may not always have a group of friends to help you out. I gaze across the expanse of smiling children and lock gazes with my best friend. He waves me over, a big grin on his face.

“(Y/N)! I want you to meet someone.” He says as I draw near. I hesitate a little at his words, but plow on from curiosity. He wouldn’t be friends with a bully. Hopefully. Leon clasps his hand over a boy’s shoulder and I take a moment to look him over.

The boy has slightly short black dreadlocks and sparkling turquoise eyes. He’s nearly as tall as Leon, and I feel like if he stood up straight he would be the same height. By his side is a small orange Pokemon I recognize as a trampinch. It looks nervous and is huddled against the boy, looking close to tears.

“Heya. The name’s Raihan. It’s nice to finally put a face to the mysterious miss (Y/N)” He says, a grin stretching his features. So he’s heard of me? I wonder if people have been spreading rumors again. Being best friends with the strongest kid in school had its own little downsides. Especially since half of the school has a crush on him.

“O-oh, It’s nice to meet you Raihan. Your trampinch is really cute. Would you mind if I pet it?” I ask him, gesturing to the nervous creature. Trampinch’s are notoriously shy, but they warm up to kind hearted people quickly. I hope that I make the cut.

“Huh? What trampinch? I don’t have any Pokémon…” He trails off as he looks down and sees the nervous Pokémon who flinches slightly at the fact that he’s been caught. Raihan sighs at the trampinch before delicately picking it up, cradling it like a baby. “Oh, this little guy. He’s been following me around since Saturday. I thought it’d be fine if I left him at home, but something must’ve spooked him and he followed me.” Raihan explains, gently petting the larvae pokemon’s head. He purrs and pushes his head further into Raihan's hand and I try to stifle the excited squeal that threatens to escape my throat. They’re just so cute!

“Oh, that’s kinda funny. (Y/N) here got her own little partner over the weekend, too. Though I think she got her on Friday. See that Eevee right there?” Leon says, pointing to my Eevee who’s standing a little off to the side, trying to look inconspicuous. She bristles and puffs up a little when she senses my approach. I hover my hand in front of her face so she can smell me. When her hair stops standing on end, she finally crawls towards my hand and allows me to pet her.

“Yeah. She’s really sweet, but she got me good during our first encounter.” I say, gesturing to my still bandaged arm. Leon cringes a little when he catches sight of the slight red that had seeped through while Raihan studies Eevee curiously.

“A fiery one, then? Do you plan on evolving her into a Flareon?” He asks, immediately heading to the first topic that people talk about when an Eevee is brought up.

“No, I want her to decide what she wants to be. She was abused and abandoned. She’s so confused, but I feel like once she figures out what she wants to do, she won’t stop until she’s done. I want to help her achieve all of her dreams. She deserves to be happy.” I say, smiling down at her as she shakes out her mane, letting out a happy cry at my words.

“That’s very noble of you. Not a lot of trainers let their Pokémon decide what they want to be. Usually, it’s just train and train until the Pokémon evolves. And if the Pokémon can evolve using a stone, all the better! It’s a little disheartening.” Raihan says, a bit of anger seeping into his tone at the end. I agree with his righteous anger but don’t say anything, keeping my opinion to myself. In the short amount of time that I’ve known Raihan, he’s earned my respect as a trainer. He’s going to go a long way.

“Well… We haven’t even set up our tent and the class is about halfway over. We should probably start before Coach comes over.” I say, tilting my head towards the still unmade tent. The two boys agree immediately and begin pulling out the polls and shifting around the fabric to make the pop-up tent. I read out the instructions and they follow. In record time, the tent is up and the guys are sweating slightly from the effort.

“Pfft… You guys look like you just came from a battle with a heatmoar and lost.” I tell them, and they glare at me. Eevee snickers at their pokemon as they are also panting hard and are out of breath. I suppose it is kind of rude to laugh at them after they just got me a passing grade for P.E., but it’s hard not to!

“You try wrestling with a tent with someone who’s pants with direction and his fire-type pokemon making the tent a sauna!” Raihan retaliates and both Leon and his Charmander gasp in indignation before letting out a little chuckle because, truth be told, Raihan’s not wrong. I’ve been doing group assignments with Leon since I started school, and everytime I’ve had to pull both of our weights because he gets sidetracked during the Coach’s instructions and completely forgets everything that he did listen to.

“Well, it wouldn’t have been much better with y/n helping out. She’s pretty clumsy in her own right and she locks up at the first sign of danger.” Leon says, a good natured smile on his face as I hit him playfully. Raihan looks between us before chuckling at our antics.

“Since we’re already here and have our tent all set up, why don’t we set up for lunch, since it’s next period?” I suggest, pulling my backpack towards myself and rummaging around inside. Both of the boys agree and pull their own backpacks towards themselves, taking out their lunch boxes. I pull out a blanket and lay it out casually, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Raihan makes a strangled sound behind me and I give him a questioning look.

“Why do you have a picnic blanket in your bag, and why is everyone acting like this is normal?” He question in an incredulous tone as Leon settles down beside me on the blanket. 

I begin pulling out berries, a knife and a plate from my bag as I answer with “Because it is normal, for me at least. I always come prepared for anything. Also, Leon, I’m not letting you eat that appaling mayo and anchovy sandwich. Put it in the trash before I throw it at your head.” I say and eevee snickers as Leon sadly puts the sandwich back in his lunchbox. Before he can get too bent out of shape about it, I set a plate with chopped up pecha berries, toast with homemade jam and a thermos with tea in it in front of him.

“So i’m guessing the theme is Pecha for today?” Leon asks as he sniffs the tea which is letting off a pleasant, sweet smell. I nod and begin slicing some mago, papaya and, of course, pecha berries and placing the plate in front of Eevee. Charmander and trampinch wander over and Eevee offers them a couple slices. The pokemon trill happily and begin chowing down and I can’t help but smile.

“You still look confused, Raihan. Y’see, I live alone for the most part. My mum is usually away at work, so I had to figure out how to make my own food. Leon found out my litte talent and now fully utilizes it by coming up with the most disgusting lunches that he can and bringing them to school so that I scold him and, eventually, offer him some food. He thinks he’s being sneaky, but he’s really not.” I say and Leon chokes on his tea. Raihan belts out a hearty laugh, and finally seems to understand what’s going on. 

“So yer sayin’ that if I start bringing some appaling food choices, I’ll get in on the amazing food action? Sign me up! Leon, i’m gonna need your finest recipes!” Raihan jokes, and we all begin laughing. However, I look down at his food and see how humble and not-filling it is. My mom instincts kick in and I take out a handful of Haban and Cheri berries and gesture for Raihan to take them. He hesitates a tick before taking them with a grateful smile.

“Hey! How come he doesn’t have to make weird food to get some of your stuff?” Leon asks, the hurt look on his face making him look like a kicked yamper.

“Because he needs to eat more! Look at him, he looks like a twig. If you’re going to continue growing like that, you’re gonna need WAY bigger meals than what you have right there, mister.” I tell him, giving his little juice box and pair of oran berries a disapproving look. “But it’s not good to suddenly change your diet, so we’ll work our way up to a bigger meal.” I tell him, feeling bad that I can’t just shovel food down his gullet.

We continue our meal in a comfortable silence, occasionally cracking a joke now and then, but mostly enjoying the silence and slightly chilled air. Lunch ends all to soon, and we have to get back to classes.


	4. Pokemon Sciences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapters gonna be shorter, mostly because next chapter's gonna be filled to the brim with plot and other stuff. Also, not a lot of actual plot going for this chapter. Just an introduction of the reader's class and how she'll get the credentials to become a pokemon professor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy!

Once the lunch bell rings, I quickly and efficiently pack up both the tent and the blanket in record time and Leon walks me to my next class before seeing me off and heading to his own class.

Despite not being in my last year in school, I have one slightly higher-level class because of my outstanding showing in my first year. Pokemon Sciences is usually one of the rigorous classes on campus, teaching students how to properly feed their partners, how to know which berries help which pokemon and most importantly, how to properly treat injured pokemon in the wild. It’s basically a survival class, but indoors and with a lot of books and reading. A lot of up-and-coming professors take the class, and very few actually pass it.

“Y/N, can you tell me how the persim and mago berries differ.” The teacher calls out to me.

“The persim berry and the mago berry, while similar in color, have different effects on pokemon and different flavors. The mago berry causes confusion in pokemon who dislike sweet food, but restores health while a persim berry cures confusion, and since it isn’t bitter, quite a few pokemon like it.” I answer without batting an eye. The teacher nods at my answer and jots something down in his notebook.

Another thing to know about Pokemon Sciences is that it is an advanced course for people who want to serve under the medical part of pokemon training, for example, pokemon breeders would have to take two years in the class in order to earn enough knowledge to become a breeder. To become a nurse, you need to go through four years of teaching and be sponsored by the Joy clan. It’s a daunting journey for anyone who isn’t a part of the Joy family, but it has been done. I came here out of recommendation from my science teacher during my first year. It was a cool class, so I decided to stay. I’ve been learning Pokemon Sciences for nearly three years now, so I would be able to become a medical researcher if I so chose to stop now.

The teacher treats every day like a test. I suspect it’s because he doesn’t want to take care of a class of pretentious children who think they’re oh-so-good at science. I would probably want to fail as many of these kids as I could, too. After the first day, I figured out that this class wasn’t about to be all sunshine and rainbows. It’s incredibly cut-throat and everyone here is betting their future lives and jobs on passing.

My situation is slightly different, however. In my first year of schooling, they had us take an assessment to see which classes we would be best suited in. The day after the assessment, I was called to the counselors office and told that I scored the highest in my class all around, especially in the science department. So, they asked if I would like to take a higher level science class and I agreed without really knowing what I was doing.

So, three years later, here I am, still in the highest level science class the school has to offer, except now, I actually care. I want to succeed in this class more than anything in the world. I want to become a professional in pokemon healthcare, and if possible, become a professor. I didn’t know it three years ago, but one simple decision like saying yes to a slightly higher level class would be all the difference in the world between me succeeding and failing in my future ambitions.


	5. The Slumbering Weald

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy!

School’s out.

Walking home proves to be much more exciting than usual. Leon notices one of his families wooloo acting weirdly, ramming into the gate that leads to the slumbering weald. My mum forbade me from going there since I didn’t have a pokemon, and I haven’t really given it a thought since I befriended Eevee.

Leon scolds the creature but does nothing more. I shoot him a disapproving glare but he just shrugs and walks inside my house, completely at ease with the whole situation. Letting out an exasperated sigh, I follow him inside and begin taking out a couple containers filled with baked goods and ponder whether I have enough time to make some curry to help Hop get better soon.

Eevee’s ears twitch just a moment before a loud crunch sounds outside. Leon jumps to his feet and I place the vegetables I had just gathered down on the table. “What was that? It sounded like it came from outside.” I voice my concern and Leon nods his agreement. We bolt for the door and open it to see the gate to the slumbering weald burst open and the wooloo nowhere in sight.

“Ah, jeez. Mum’s gonna have a miltank if she finds her wooloo missing.” Leon says, a nervous lilt to his tone. I know just about as good as anyone what that woman’s anger means. Yet, I hesitate at my mailbox as Leon begins making his way to the now busted gate.

“Won’t she be even more mad if she finds out we went into the slumbering weald? I hear that people venture in there and never come back out.” I warn, putting the probably false information out there, just to try to elict some kind of caution in the boy. Leon looks back at me with a bright grin and a thumbs-up.

“Don’t worry, y/n! The future champion of Galar can handle anything!” He states with a cheery tone. All of the dread that had been polling in my gut disperses and I take a cautious step towards him before fully steeling my nerves and jogging up to his side.

“Alright. But you gotta promise to protect me if anything happens!” I say, holding up my pinkie. As childish as it is, Leon takes his pinkie promises very seriously. He grips my small finger with his own and shakes it with a determined look on his face.

We then begin our journey into the slumbering weald. The forest is eerily silent as we trek our way through the tall grass. I suppose that’s why, when the sudden rustling of a bush happens, I nearly shriek my lungs out.

“Whoa, hey! It’s fine! I promised I wouldn’t let anything happen to you, right?” Leon says, placing a hand on my shoulder which calms me down almost immediately. He takes a hesitant step towards the rustling bush and immediately gets pounced on by a ball of brown fluff. “W-wah!!”

Leon stumbles back and tries to shake the fluff off of him, but it seems to latch on tighter. I take a step towards him and recognize the mass almost immediately. “Eevee? Is that you? Get off of Leon!” I say and the fluff’s ears twitch. Eevee unlatches herself from Leon upon recognizing my voice and prances over to me, a proud smile on her face.

“How’d you get all the way over here?” I ask as I scoop her up into my arms. Eevee simply puffs up her fur and preens as if I had given her praise. I chuckle at her actions and pull out a pecha berry from my berry pocket and allow her to eat it. She seems to like sweeter fruits over the stranger taste of oran berries.

“Well, however she got here, it’s still good to have a bit more back-up. Especially someone as ferocious as she!” Leon chuckles as he pats Eevee’s head and she bats his hand in playful annoyance. They have a strange friendship, but I can’t say that it’s bad.

“We should continue on. I think I see a clearing up ahead. Maybe wooloo got scared and hid up there?” I question, trying to catch a better glimpse of the alcove, but the fog is too thick to see through.

We go forward but don’t make it very far before a loud cry stops us in our tracks. Leon and I glance around before our eyes land on a mysterious figure, slightly off to the side. It approaches us and brings with it even more fog. The air becomes dense with moisture and the coolness of the air burns my eyes, but I don’t blink as I become transfixed with the creature before me.

It’s quite large, even by pokemon standards. Its mane is blue in color, but most of its other features are hard to make out. Leon holds out his arm as a protective barrier between me and the pokemon and his Charmander steps up bravely, staring down the large pokemon as if it were nothing more than a leaf in its path.

I clutch onto Eevee tightly as Leon calls out for his Charmander to use growl. Charmander obeys immediately, but the strange pokemon does nothing. “What? Nothing happened.” I voice, and Leon notices the same thing. He orders Charmander to use ember, but the move goes through the pokemon as if it were a ghost. Even if the pokemon were a ghost type, ember still would’ve done something. An unsettling feeling grows in my stomach and I move closer to Leon, shivering from fear and the sudden blast of cold as the mist thickens.

“What should we do? Charmander's attacks are just going right through this… thing. We can’t fight it off, and we run the risk of getting lost in all of this mist if we run away.” I say, gripping Leon’s forearm with my free hand.

“I’m not sure. Do you have any ideas on what to do?” He asks, a hopeful look in his eyes. Leon’s a usually inventive fella, so it’s kinda scary when he has nothing else on his mind. I rack my mind for anything else we could do to calm the creature down.

“W-well… maybe it’s just scared? We could try to calm it down. Maybe that will help.” I say, remembering how I helped calm Eevee down when we first met. Something tells me getting bitten by this pokemon will hurt a heck of a lot more than getting bitten by Eevee.

Even with every thought in my mind telling me to run away, to turn around and forget this ever happened, I slowly approach the pokemon, making myself smaller to seem like less of a threat. It lets out a silent howl at my approach yet does nothing to move in for an attack. I bow to the pokemon in a sign of respect and slowly place a handful on the ground before skittering back to the safety of my friends.

The pokemon sniffs at the ground and eventually finds the berries I left. It lets out another howl and the mist grows so thick that I can’t see my own hand. A moment later the mist dissipates and, where my berries once were, is a wooloo, chomping away at a pile of grass.

“What… the heck… Just happened?” Leon says from beside me. Finally, the nerves get the better of me and I slump onto the ground. Eevee curls up in my lap and purrs softly, trying to calm me down. I absentmindedly pet her soft fur as Leon approaches the Wooloo and attaches a lead to it.

“I think we almost died.” My voice comes out shakily, and Leon joins me on the ground. We both take a few moments of silence before something snaps inside of me and I shoot up, starting to pace. “We could’ve died just now! No wonder mum said not to go into this place. But… It didn’t even try to hurt us. Even though I’m pretty dang sure it could’ve wiped both of our pokemon with ease and then moved onto us for desert. So does that mean that it’s dangerous? Or did it only act that way because it was hungry? What would’ve happened if I hadn’t given it those berries? What would’ve happened to wooloo if we hadn’t gone in after him?” I rant and Leon just sits there, looking at me with an unreadable expression. Eventually, I calm down and help Leon off of the floor. We head out of the weald and agree not to tell anyone about what happened in the forest. However, I can’t help but glance back at the gate as I make my way back into my house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how this turned out, but I hope you enjoyed! Also, I know the legendaries are just illusions in the game, but I feel like they would show their true selves to the future Champion and Professor of their region.


	6. Leon's Sponsorship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's gonna be a little POV change halfway through the Chapter, just so you guys know. I hope you enjoy!

“Well, I don’t think I can handle carrying the food. Do you think you can do it?” I ask Leon, observing my shaking hands. I could make a massage machine with the force of my shaking. Cool.

“Not sure how much better I can handle it, but sure. You just want those containers and the vegetables you were taking out earlier, right?” He asks, eyeing the kitchen, trying to size up his own strength. I take a moment to observe how well he’s taking the whole thing. He seems mostly calm, but the look in his eyes says it all. They hold a tint of fear and regret.

“Yeah, and the meat in the freezer. I want to add it to the curry. Y’know, Leon, I don’t blame you for earlier. Neither of us knew what was going on. You just did what you know how to do. If it were any other pokemon, I'm sure you would’ve performed beautifully.” I tell him, setting my hand on his shoulder. He looks down at my hand and I start to notice just how small it is compared to his broad shoulders. Maybe I didn’t notice until now, but he’s grown a lot in the past years. We used to be around the same size just a couple years ago.

“That’s just it, y/n. It wasn’t just some other pokemon. It was the one that could’ve killed us. And you walked right up to it like it was the most normal thing to do. I don’t understand how you can remain so calm after literally looking death in the eyes. Meanwhile, I couldn’t do anything to help you. I couldn’t save you.” He says, a sad look crossing his face.

“But you did help me. I never would’ve been good at handling pokemon if it weren’t for you. You were the one who helped me get over my fear of them, remember? From that moment on, I have loved and cherished every pokemon I have met. Just as I love and cherish you. Because of you, I could stand up to that big, scary beast. Because you were there and I knew you had my back, I didn't freak out and run for the hills when my own pokemon approached me.” I tell him, tightening my grip on his shoulder. He gives me a disbelieving look before it morphs into happiness and he pulls me into a hug.

“Thanks, y/n. You’re really sweet. But we should probably head to my house soon. Mum expected me back about an hour ago.” He says and rubs the back of his neck before I nod and pick up one of the containers with sweets and head out. Leon stays back to pick up the rest of the food and I continue on my way to his house.

To say that Hop is happy to see me is a bit of an understatement. He’s practically jumping in his bed, struggling to get out from under his covers. I chuckle at his failed attempt of escaping and pat his head, trying to calm him down.

“Y/N! You’re finally able to leave your house! Oh, what a rotten time to get sick.” He says, pouting slightly at his predicament. Even with him being sick, he doesn’t seem too put out, though. He’s actually maybe a bit more excited than usual. I retuck his sheets around him and go about fussing over him, pointing out his pale face and thin frame. The poor dear. Ah, geez. I’m starting to sound like a mom.

“You sound like my mom! Quit fussing, ya old lady. ‘Sides, I have some juicy gossip.” He says, immediately catching my attention. Hop is the equivalent of a grandma in a beauty salon when he gossips. He has literally all of the details and makes sure to do extra research before spouting his findings. Although, he does like to exaggerate a few things.

“So, here’s the deets. Leon… Got a sponsorship from the chairman himself! Ain't that something. He’s been adamant about getting a better sponsorship than all of those looney rich people, and the chairman himself decides to pop by and give him a grant to go through the gym challenge.” Hop says, pride seeping into his voice even though he’s trying to keep his cool about the whole thing. I feel a pin slip into my heart at his words but hold back on any negative feelings that I might be feeling.

“O-Oh, that’s great. He’ll be so excited to hear.” I say, being as civil as possible about the whole thing. Hop doesn’t seem to pick up on my emotions and continues ranting about how excited he is for his brother. I’m usually more attentive with Hop’s conversations since they can be quite amusing and informative, but I completely blank while he talks. Leon it getting sponsored by the chairman? That means he has to go! No one should be able to stop him from going out and achieving his dreams. Yet, I can’t help but feel so hurt and disappointed. Why couldn’t have he stayed with us a little longer, why couldn’t we have had the same dreams? He already has his whole future put together and I have yet to start mine.

Leon’s POV

Trying to drag over a cart full of baked goods and curry ingredients is a lot harder than it should be, especially considering my house is closer to Y/N’s place than anywhere else. I hear the familiar rustling of fur and turn around to glare at the group of Wooloo who were trying to look inconspicuous, all bunched up behind a stone wall. As soon as I turn back around, they move forward. One particularly gutsy one sticks out his neck to try and snap up a cupcake.

“Hey! I know where you live, Franklin. Best not eat my ladies snacks.” I tell him, pointing a finger. Franklin baah’s in exasperation, but the rest of the wooloo in his little pod begin making snickering sounds. I take a moment to process what I just said and immediately feel my cheeks heat up. Oh geez.

“A-anyway, why do you guys only go for the cupcakes? Y/N’s berries are some of the best in the market. You could be trying to snatch those up, too.” I tell them, but they give me a blank look. Great. Now I'm talking to a flock of Wooloo. In the middle of nowhere. Wait, where was I going again? Oh, right, my house. 

I send out Charmander and tell him to watch the food as I continue forward. My house appears over the next bend and I pick up my pace to reach it. Once I get to the door, I take a moment to compose myself but hear something interesting from inside. “...Leon got a sponsorship from the chairman himself!...” 

Why’d Hop have to go and open his big mouth? I was gonna tell her at dinner tonight... I thought I still had some time. Some time to… I don’t know, butter her up? Calm her down? Calm myself down?

I shake off the thoughts and slap my cheeks, trying to snap myself back into reality. Y/N might start to get suspicious if I take too long to come inside. Taking in one last breath, I go into the place that I've lived all of my life. For some reason, it feels like the first time I’ve entered. 

Y/N’s POV

Leon enters and I can immediately tell that something is wrong. He looks uncomfortable in his own skin, and he keeps on fixing his clothes. He even flinches when I reach out to take the vegetable basket I had asked him to wash for me.

“Is everything okay, Leon? I didn’t do anything, did I?” I ask, looking up from peeling a potato to meet his eyes. He looks down and I can tell he wants to reach for his hat.

Okay, something is definitely wrong. Leon has only ever reached up to take off his hat once, and it was after I absolutely trashed him at smash bros. “C’mon, Leon, you can tell me if something is wrong. I’m your best friend.” I tell him, setting down the knife and potato to reach for his arm.

“I’m fine, Y/n. You don’t need to worry. I’ve just been thinking. About the future.” He says. I feel my heart leap at his words, and for a completely negative reason. What if he’s thinking of taking off for his journey… Sooner? Can he do that?

“It’s just, I don’t really want to go. But I really do. It’s just super conflicting. Because, I don’t want to leave you guys behind. I want to have days like this, where you’re bossing me around and the wooloo are trying to steal your food, and we’re making new friends. I want that to be every day. But I also want to compete and train up Charmander. I want to utilize my abilities and push myself to the limit. I can’t do that here, y’know what I mean?” He asks and I finally feel like I understand. Perhaps I hadn’t seen the whole picture because I didn’t have an ambition of my own for a long time, but I feel like I get it now.

“I think I know what you mean, Leon. If I were to get a full sponsorship to become a nurse, I would immediately jump on it. I would definitely miss you guys, but I know that you would support me. Perhaps I haven't voiced this, but I fully support you going out. I think you can become champion. In fact, I’m sure that you can. I admit, I've been selfish in wanting you to stay here. But I'm willing to give you my blessing, in a way, to go. Because it’s your dream. It’s your dream and it’s your right to go on a journey and experience what this world has to offer. I hope that, when the time comes, you will support me in my own dream.” I tell him, a smile gracing my face. These feel like the right words to say. Maybe I will regret them when he boards the train to motostoke to start his journey, but at the moment, I feel like the words I am speaking are the truth and they will push Leon to do what he needs to do.

“Thank you, Y/n. I needed to hear that. Of course I’ll support you during your own journey, you deserve that much and so much more for putting up with me for all these years.” Leon says, and we finally fall into silence. I resume cutting the vegetables and he resumes cleaning them and everything feels like it should be.

That night, Hop, Leon, their mum and I all share an amazing curry dinner. I head home soon after and retire to my bed.

Around midnight, the door bangs shut and the clack of heels is heard throughout the house. My door slowly creaks open and the faint smell of vanilla invades my senses. I crack open my eyes and barely make out the silhouette of my mom before the door shuts again.


	7. Professor Magnolia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna make the mom a kinda mean character, but then I was like, nah. I love all of the pokemon moms. They deserve better! Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

I wake up to the sound of Pidove outside my window. My door is open just a crack and I faintly recall my mum coming home last night. Slowly, I make my way out of my bed and begin rummaging around my closet for a set of clean clothes. All that I have left is a magenta dress and a grey knit sweater. Well, at least it’s something. I pull on the clothes before checking my bag, making sure that I have everything ready for the day.

I wash my face and brush my hair in the bathroom, toying with the idea of putting the locks in braids. Nah. Rather, I settle for plopping a pink beret on my head and calling it a day. I exit the bathroom and enter the kitchen, sizing up the fridge. Maybe I should make mum some breakfast. I whip up two nice breakfast sliders and begin brewing some roseli tea.

The sound of someone stumbling around upstairs is heard and I giggle a little at the mental image of my mum falling out of bed. Once I finish the tea, mum comes out of the stairwell and enters the kitchen with a sleepy look on her face. “Hey, y/n. You’re up early. Isn’t it saturday?” She asks, clearly still exhausted from work. I shake my head no and tell her that it’s only tuesday. She sighs in a tired way and settles down on the table.

“I checked the family planner this morning, it looks like you have a physical check-up, so you have a couple hours of sleep. I called your work to remind them that you have a doctor’s appointment today.” I tell her, setting the tea and slider on the table. She makes a grateful grunt before going for the tea and downing the whole thing in one gulp. Immediately, she lights up and stretches a little, finally waking up fully.

“Thanks, y/n. I own you one. Anyway, what do you say to a spot of shopping this weekend? I have a short meeting in Hammerlocke with the director, but then i’m free for the rest of the day.” She tells me and I glance down at my outfit. I am running low on clothes, especially clothes that actually fit me…

“Sure, I'm free on saturday. And I haven't been out of Wedgehurst in forever.” I tell her, thinking of the archaic looking city of Hammerlocke. It’s a nice contrast to the rolling hills and country style of my hometown.

My mum nods her head and pulls out her personal planner, sipping on her refilled tea cup before nearly spitting it out when her eyes widen. “Oh my gosh, my appointment is at eight?! Oh, I gotta go, honey. I forgot that I arranged a short meeting with the circhester gym leader this morning over coffee. I’ll see you after school!” She says before gathering her bag and breakfast slider and bolting for the door. I don’t even have enough time to tell her that she still has her slippers on.

Sighing, I clean up the plates and cups from breakfast and shoulder my bag. School doesn’t start for another thirty minutes but a short walk shouldn’t hurt. “Eevee! C’mon, we’re gonna head out.” I snap my tongue against my teeth, making a sharp clicking noise which I have been training her to respond to. Eevee is nearly immediately by my side and lets out a low purr as she circles my legs. So cute!

Eevee and I stroll across route one at a snail's pace. Seeing all of the wild pokemon playfully frolicking sets me in a good mood, and I can’t help but think of Eevee one day doing the same thing. I look down at her and she looks ahead, unseeing. She’s incredibly unresponsive to the further away pokemon, but whenever a braver creature comes forward, her hair stands on end and the pokemon skitters away in fear. She doesn’t look very strong, but I doubt she would have made it as long as she did without knowing a few attacks. It’s a dangerous world.

I cross the bridge into Wedgehurst and from the corner of my eye, I catch sight of the pokemon professor’s house. Professor Magnolia is a kind lady who has devoted her life to researching the Dynamax Phenomenon. A few of her assistants venture out into the world to research their own interests, but always keep an eye out for lively dynamax holes. They often assist trainers in taking on such dens. It’s quite nice of them, even if it’s their job.

Without really thinking, I make my way towards the building, observing the quaint patterns on the walls. It smells of lavender and exotic plants. I stop in front of the building and read the sign in front of me. “Professor Magnolia’s Institute of Pokemon Research and Healthcare. Huh. I didn’t know this was a school.” I read aloud, pondering the new information.

“Ah, a new face. Or perhaps an old one. Y’know, young lady, you’re allowed inside if you would so like to enter.” An elderly voice sounds from beside me. I startle and turn towards the foreign voice and come face to face with the Pokemon Professor herself.

“Oh, Professor Magnolia! I didn’t see you there. Sorry, I don’t think we’ve been officially introduced, but my name is y/n l/n. I believe you know my mother.” I state, but it sounds more like a question. Professor Magnolia gives me a long look before nodding, then gestures towards her lab.

“Why don’t you stop inside for a spot of tea? Everyone says that I make the best around.” She says, all smiles. I light up at the offer of tea from one of the best in the business, but shake my head in disappointment.

“I can’t. School starts in about fifteen minutes, and mum’ll have a fit if she sees me marked tardy.” I tell her, a sad look crossing my face. ‘But homemade tea!’ My mind is screaming at me.

“Ah, nonsense, dear. Your instructors won’t say anything, especially not about you stopping for an academic seminar with Galar’s top professor. In fact, they’d throw a fit if they heard you didn’t stop for a chat.” She says, a sly smile crossing her features. I give her an incredulous look before a wide grin spreads onto my face.

“Well then, by all means, lead the way.” I tell her, gesturing towards the lab. Professor Magnolia chuckles and walks ahead, propping her cane against her shoulder as she walks forward. For some reason, I knew she didn’t need that cane. I have a sneaking suspicion it’s only for beating annoying kids. I’m glad I'm not on the receiving end.

“So, my dear, seeing as though you have your very own pokemon, I suspect you will be wanting a pokedex to start your journey." I stop in my tracks at her words. Journey? What journey? I still have a couple years of schooling left.

“I’m sorry, you must be mistaken, miss. I’m not gonna be going on a journey for another two years. Thank you for the offer, though.” I tell her as I sit at her table. It’s nice, made with mahogany wood and is a sharp contrast to the bright whites and dark greens of her lab.

“Ah, so you’re still pretty young. I suppose that means you haven’t been offered a sponsorship yet?” She asks as she sets a cup in front of me then moves to the other side of the table to settle down and drink her own cup of tea.

“No, not yet. The school hasn’t even asked what type of journey I want to go on. But I think I want to do… Something like what your assistants do.” I tell her, looking around the lab. I don’t want to do exactly what she does. Sitting in a cold building crunching numbers and reading statistics doesn’t sound like what I want to do.

“Ah, well, you still have time to decide what you want to do. But tell me, why do you think you want to do something similar to my students' jobs?” She asks, giving me a curious look as she delicately raises her cup to her lips.

“Well, it’s kind of a recent thing, actually. I found Eevee this weekend, and immediately I noticed she was blind. I’ve been helping her control her other senses to help her get around, and it’s been helping a lot. She responds extremely well to both touch and smell. But I was thinking, if I’m doing so well on Eevee, and she’s only my first pokemon, what if I helped other pokemon out with their disabilities. I’m not sure how many cases are out there, but I feel like it could be quite a few, and since it’s not a well studied practice, it would help a lot to give any support I can offer.” I tell her. Professor Magnolia looks at Eevee who found her way into my lap. She’s sniffing the tea carefully, her nose twitching at the pleasant aroma.

“Oh, I was wondering what was wrong with the dear. You treat her very delicately, so I assumed she got into a bad scuffle earlier and you wanted to be careful with her. Never in all my years would I assume she was blind.” The professor says, and I can’t help but scratch the back of my neck. She said it more or less like a compliment, whether it was for Eevee or myself is anyone’s guess.

“Ah, I suppose she hides it pretty well. But, anyway, back to the future. Could you see me researching something like that?” I ask her. I run my hand through Eevee’s fur, a bit nervous at her answer. Eevee presses further into me in a reassuring manner and I can’t help but smile at her. I’m so glad I found her.

“I don’t think you would do well researching pokemon disabilities.” She says flatly and I feel my world crashing around me, but only for a moment as she continues. “But I do think you would do wonderfully as a professor of pokemon disabilities.” She says

“I’m sorry, but what? A professor?” I ask, thoroughly confused, yet elated.

“Indeed, my dear. You would look just lovely in a lab coat, and I can’t help but notice how at ease you are in here. Most children your age who walk in here do so unwillingly or simply for a pokedex. But you? You look like you never want to leave. You look like you belong here.” She tells me, standing and moving around the table to gesture to the tall walls, the arching bookshelves and the messy desks. I take in the sight with awe. Perhaps I was too deep in shock to notice earlier, but this place… It’s beautiful. 

The professor and I have a long chat after that, moving on to less technical topics. We discuss the best additions to Roseli tea, some of the best places to find dynamax pokemon and move onto family matters. Professor Magnolia is a wonderful listener, and a lovely conversationalist. She eases herself into any topic, but I feel like she doesn’t really need to do that with me. We have a lot in common, which might be weird considering I'm an eight year old and she’s… Getting on in life.

Around mid-day, our conversations peter out and she offers to walk me to the school. I agree and we enjoy the fresh air and the short trip to the school. Professor Magnolia marches me straight up to the front office and, in her most authoritative voice, tells them that if I get told off for missing classes, there will be hell to pay. I snicker at the stricken faces they make as they give me a slip to go to P.E. I wave goodbye to Professor Magnolia and skip into the schoolyard, reminiscing about the wonderful day that I've had.


	8. First Battle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really excited for this chapter since it's my first battle scene. I hope I wrote it well! Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy!

I walk onto the P.E. turf with a happy smile that almost immediately vanishes when I breathe in a lung full of ash. My eyes pop open as I hack out the breath I just took and look around, trying to spot the source of the fire.

My eyes land on a small orange salamander and the head of purple hair standing behind him. I immediately bolt into their direction, fury sparking in my eyes. “Leon, what the heck is happening here?!” I ask over the shouts of spectating children. A grin spreads across Leon’s face and I swear he looks like a maniac with the bright flames sparking all around him.

“Y/n! I thought you were at home today! Now, I know this looks bad…” He trails off and the anger in me sparks just a little bit more

“Bad? Bad?! This looks like a massacre waiting to happen!” I shout in his face. He puts his hands up in mock surrender, backing up slightly.

“Wait, you didn’t let me explain! Raihan and I are just battling. That’s today’s lesson. Look, everyone’s fine!” He says, gesturing around. I take a moment to look around and see a lot of smiling faces. From across the turf, Raihan waves his hand. I groan and face palm, shaking my head in disbelief. Geez, I nearly had a heart attack over this?

“Oh my Arceas. Why? Why does you and Raihan battling look like a death march?” I ask him, my voice exasperated. Leon just shrugs and chuckles at my disbelieving look.

“Ms. Evergreen. How lovely of you to join us. Would you care to explain why you have stopped the battle?” The coach asks, crossing her arms over her chest. I flinch slightly, but try to hold my ground while I explain what happened. “While it’s all well and good that you worry about your classmates’ safety, that’s no reason to interrupt a battle. Unless you want to pay the loser's fee?” She asks, referring to the rule of thumb about battling.

Pokemon battles are interesting events that trainers use to gauge their strength against others. Both parties wage a certain amount of money, shake on it, and battle. The winner takes back their own money and the losers share and they break apart amicably, for the most part. The amount of money wagered corresponds with the number of pokemon used in the battle. The number of pokemon used in the battle is agreed upon before the battle starts.

“It would be wrong for me to pay the losers share. There are laws against such things, actually. If I were to pay, both I and the loser could end up in jail.” I tell her smoothly, and she nods her head, marking something down on her notepad.

“Well then, how would you like to tag team with Raihan? He’s seeming to have a bit of trouble with Leon, despite the type advantage.” She says, gesturing to where Raihan is standing. His Trampinch is covered in a sheen of sweat and ash dusts his body.

“How do you expect me to tag team with him? I don't have a pokemon that can battle.” I tell her, but a nudge at my leg makes me look down. Eevee shakes out her fur, making it bristle at the ends. She lets out a determined yap and sprints towards the opposite end of the field from Leon. I look on in disbelief as she stretches out her legs, slightly flexing to get her blood pumping.

“Eevee, what are you doing? Can you really battle like that?” I ask her. She lets out a trill and flicks her tail, as if to say ‘no big deal.’ I shake my head and jog up behind her. But when I face Leon, he has an apprehensive look on his face. I look at Charmander and realize he’s also a little knocked up. Jogging forward, I pull out a few sitrus and leppa berries, handing them to him. Charmander lets out a happy cry and eats the berries quickly, instantly restoring his health and Power Points. “Sorry Raihan. I’m hijacking your battle.” I shout to him. He gives me a thumbs up and walks to the sidelines.

“Alright, Leon. Are you ready to battle?” I ask him, returning to my spot behind Eevee. Leon still has a bit of an apprehensive look on his face, but he shakes it off and slaps his cheeks as a signature start to his battles. A crowd of children gather around us, cheering and placing bets. The odds are not in my favor.

I take a moment to assess the situation. Leon is a skilled battler and his Charmander has been fighting with him since they met each other. Meanwhile, Eevee is of an indeterminate level, with an unknown move set and we’ve never battled together before. For some reason, I’m not worried whatsoever.

“I’ll let you have the first move.” Leon says and I nod. Such a gentleman.

“Eevee, let’s see what you can do!” I shout and she leaps forward, emitting a low growl from the back of her throat. The sound makes Charmander back up a little bit, but he still looks determined to keep fighting. “So you have growl, eh?” I ask. Eevee lets out a pleased sound that I recognized her move.

“Alright, my turn! Charmander, use smokescreen.” Leon shouts. Charmander spews a black smoke that aims straight for Eevee’s eyes. She doesn’t even flinch when it hits her and simply shakes her fur as if to say ‘that’s it?’ In the next moment, she leaps forward and latches onto Charmander, her paw swiping at his own. She returns with a sitrus berry and preens over her new item.

“Ah, covet. That’s a good move to have when you’re out of food.” I say aloud. Eevee trills, but then goes stock still as Charmander growls out a warning.

The two pokemon glare at each other, neither giving in an inch. Charmander moves first, aiming to scratch at Eevee’s side. Eevee doesn’t have enough time to dodge and takes the brunt of the attack, wincing from the pain, before she tackles his unassuming form. Charmander falls to the ground, but only for a moment. He shoots back up and retreats to his trainer. 

It’s at this moment that our eyes meet and all I can see is a burning passion and an overwhelming love for his pokemon. Eevee yaps by my side and I break eye contact with Leon to see what my partner is doing. She circles around and sits at my feet. Suddenly, she opens her eyes and it's like looking into the galaxy. Her eyes are milky and discoloured, but vast and filled with knowledge beyond her years. Suddenly, a shooting star reflects in her eyes and my own eyes widen in disbelief.

Wish is a special breeding move very few Eevee can receive naturally. Yet, somehow, someway, Eevee has it. She smirks and closes her eyes, jolting back into the battle and facing Charmander once again.

“Well, y/n, I didn’t expect your Eevee to put up such a fight. So, from here on out, Charmander and I are going full-out!” He shouts, then commands Charmander to use ember. Eevee isn’t able to completely avoid the attack but she doesn’t end up with the burn status, luckily. Eevee growls at Charmander in displeasure and he backs off a little more.

“That’s where you made a mistake, Leon. You should’ve been working at one hundred percent from the very beginning!” I retort before commanding Eevee to tackle his Charmander. When she comes back, I notice a new scratch on her leg. I smirk. Two turns are up.

Eevee’s cuts all simultaneously heal up and her singed fur grows back to its normal lush texture. She trills happily, shaking out her new hair and my grin widens. “Eevee! Your wish came true!” I exclaim. Eevee hops in a circle then settles down, facing her opponent with a fresh disposition.

“Well, lets not make this completely unfair. Eevee, you should give Charmander back his berry.” I tell her. She huffs a little, but begrudgingly rolls the berry towards him. Charmander picks up the berry and eats it quickly, instantly regaining a little HP. There’s still a visible bruise where Eevee tackled him earlier and a couple scratches on his arms, but he looks mostly healed otherwise.

“Y/n, I never would’ve taken you for a battler. I guess I have some new competition to watch out for, eh, Charmander?” He says and Charmander lets out a bark of agreement. From then on, our battle stretches the rest of the period. Each move is heavily calculated and timed, just as each dodge is. The amount of actual hits taken is minimal, though not out of lack of accuracy. Our bonds with our Pokemon were so strong that they practically responded to our thoughts. If a scratch was aimed towards eevee’s leg, she would jump out of the way. If Charmander was about to get swiped at, he would retreat. With a single battle, we maneuvered flawlessly between tactics and strategies, showcasing moves with precision and grace. By the end, the field was ablaze with missed embers and a cloud of dust blocked the final outcome. Both Leon and I rushed forward, waving the dust out of our faces and searching for our partners.

“Vee!” Eevee cries from somewhere nearby. I rush forward and find her sprawled on the floor. She looks slightly ragged from the fight, but generally unharmed. She must’ve used wish a little while ago since all of her wounds are starting to close back up. Next to her lies Charmander. His breaths are shallow, but he looks surprisingly unharmed. I pull out a few berries and bandages, wrapping Charmanders abdomen in the gauze and pressing a sitrus berry to his mouth. Leon comes up behind me as I work and leans down to pat Eevee on the head. He pulls out a few oran berries and passes them to her, which she takes and eats greedily.

“Well, that was a battle to remember. I think that’s the first time I’ve been beaten.” Leon says while running his hand through Eevees mane. She purrs happily and sidles up to his hand.

“Yeah, I think that is. It seems the king has been knocked off his throne.” I tell him, a haughty smile coming to my face. “Though, if i’m being honest, that was definitely a draw. I feel like, if Charmander was fully healed when Eevee first used Wish, the battle would’ve tipped in your favor.” I tell him as I scoop Charmander up in my arms. Charmander lets out a coo and cuddles deeper into my chest, curling up into a more comfortable position.

“While that may be true, your eevee is still standing, and in better health than my own pokemon. So, I’d say that you win.” He says, arguing my logic.

“Lets just call it a draw so your fans’ hopes and dreams aren’t crushed. After all, nobody knows what happened.” I tell him, gesturing to the now-clearing dust cloud around us. We walk out and shake hands in front of the Coach, showcasing the amicable finish and telling her the battle ended in a draw. She looks disappointed that she wouldn’t get to see me fork out some cash, but moves on to tell us what a great battle it was.

The bell rings soon after and Leon and I catch up with Raihan who rants about how great of a battle we had. Eevee yips at the praise and Charmander shifts in my arms, sulking about his loss. However, when I set him down to walk on his own, he walks straight up to eevee and picks her up.

All three of us watch in confusion and he shifts her onto his back and my eyes catch sight of a dotting of blood on her back paw. “Oh, Eevee! I didn’t know you were still hurt. You could’ve told me…” I say aloud, wondering why she would hide her pain from me. Eevee shrugs before melting further onto Charmanders back, seemingly very comfortable with the new position.

“I’ll wrap you up once we get to our spot. I don't understand why we don’t have a medical unit for pokemon in this school, even though it sanctions trainer battles. It just seems like poor planning to me.” I say and Raihan nods while Leon puts his hand to his chin in thought.

“Maybe they’re trying to teach us responsibility? I mean, most of us are only a few years away from our journeys. We should be able to keep ourselves and our partners healthy, no matter the condition.” He says and I ponder his words. It makes sense. If you have a partner, you should be able to keep them healthy and happy, even when there isn’t a pokemon center around.

“Well, anyway, wanna hear what I was doing today?” I ask, starting a new conversation. We continue walking to our spot while I recount what happened this morning on my walk to school. Leon shakes his head in disbelief as I tell him about how sassy the professor actually is. He’s met her a few times, and she’s always just seemed like a kind old lady who loves pokemon. I remind him that she dives headfirst into dynamax dens without a second thought, which makes him reevaluate everything he knows of the lady.

I pull out my picnic blanket and set up a mini buffet for our pokemon. They battled so hard today that it’s only fair they eat as queen and kings. Halfway through our meal, Hop joins us. His mom gave him the go-ahead to go to school today, but only just let him leave the house. He apparently got a right scolding from the vice principal for showing up so late, which we all got a kick out of.

“Shame I missed out on Y/n’s first battle. I bet it was brilliant.” Hop says, eyeing Eevee like she might decide to reenact the whole event. Eevee simply sniffs at a Chesto berry before passing it to Charmander, who happily picks it up and chows down.

“Well, it probably was. If we could’ve seen half of it. Galar weather decided to roll in a sandstorm in the midst of their battle. In a matter of seconds, they were gone.” Raihan says, to which Leon and I both nod. We couldn’t even completely see or understand what was going on, but to say it wasn’t thrilling would be a lie.

“Well, today’s a day of firsts, actually. Leon actually lost that one, but we decided to call it a draw.” I say to Hop, who’s eyes light up with the new gossip. Oh boy.

“So, Leon, how does it feel to be beaten in your first ever official match, against a newb, no less.” Hop says in his best reporters’ voice. Leon sighs and pushes his brother to the ground. They soon lock into a fierce wrestling match, which Raihan and Charmander decide to join. Eevee, trampinch and I give the group of rowdy boys displeased looks and shake our heads.

“We need more girl friends, Eevee. I fear for our feminine natures.” I tell her, to which she yips in agreement. I check my watch and notice that lunch will be ending in five minutes. With an impressive show of strength, I yank the picnic blanket from the ground, throwing the pile of confused boys rolling down the hill. Eevee snickers as she nudges her bowl onto a pile of plates I stacked up after we finished eating.

After I finish putting everything away, I feel a presence looming behind me and a silent curse slips past my lips as I’m tackled down the hill.


	9. Shopping Trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry for taking longer than usual to update. I hope you enjoy!

The week passes somewhat normally from then on. Wake up, make breakfast, walk to school, go to classes, eat lunch, finish classes, walk home, prep dinner, finish homework, eat dinner, then go to bed. Friday comes quickly and the weekend comes even quicker.

I wake up to the normal sound of Pidove cooing outside my window. I wish my mother wouldn’t leave her pokemon right outside our house. As pleasing as the sounds are, they get kind of annoying the longer I hear them. Especially when they wake me up on my day off. I grumble before throwing the blankets back over my head, shielding my eyes from the sun filtering through my thin blinds.

I feel a light paw padding at where my face would be if my blankets weren’t covering it. “Vee!” Eevee calls, getting frustrated at my lack of response.

“Five more min’s” I mumble out, drawing the covers tighter around my body. Eevee starts jumping up and down on me, making it impossible to go back to sleep. Eventually, I just decide to give her what she wants and throw the covers off, forcing Eevee to the foot of the bed. She sits patiently, giving me an expecting look as I go about getting ready. I brush my hair and teeth in the bathroom and look through my closet for clothes that fit me. I did my laundry on wednesday, so my closet was practically bursting with clothes. I really need to get rid of some if I plan to buy new ones today.

I decide to take an hour going through the fresh smelling clothes and pull out most of my outfits from when I was four and move up from there, stopping at the clothes I racked up last year and leaving them for future perusal. Knowing that I’m growing at such a quick rate, I probably won’t fit them much longer, but I don’t want to get rid of all of my clothes, I need options!

“Vee, vee.” Eevee drawls out, nudging one of my baby ribbons I threw into my donation pile.

“Oh, you like that one? It’s not a Pink Bow like I wanted to get you, but since I don’t really want to battle too much while I’m still in school, it will do.” I say, referring to the bow that is used to raise the power of Normal type moves. I was thinking of what item to equip her with since it feels immoral to have her go into battle without anything equipped. It may fit her Covet move, but most pokemon learn that out of necessity, and since she’s well taken care of, she will probably end up forgetting it soon.

I lean down and tie the white ribbon around her ear, creating a perfect bow that puffs out a little bit. Eevee trills happily and preens at her new accessory, batting it a bit with her paw. I smile at her excitement and give her head a pat before standing back up and placing the donatable clothes in a moving box I pulled out of the garage earlier.

I write what’s in the box on its side before pushing it into the corner of my room. My stomach growls as I check the time. Seven thirty. I still have time.

I push my way into the kitchen and check the fridge for ingredients. There’s eggs, cheese, peppers, cauliflower, spinach and peanut butter. We’re gonna need to go grocery shopping soon.

I pull out most of the aforementioned ingredients, bypassing the peanut butter and begin prepping the vegetables. After they are cleaned and chopped, I whisk the eggs and pour about half onto the skillet. As the eggs begin to cook, I layer the top with vegetables and cheese, then cover them with half of the egg. I flip over the omelette and let it cook for a bit before plating. I repeat the process for my own food and settle down to eat.

A couple minutes after I begin digging into my food, Mum walks in with a pleasant smile on her face. “Oh, y/n. I don’t know what I'm gonna do when you're off on your journey. Your food always wakes me up and puts me in a good mood.” She says as she pulls out her chair. We eat our meal in general silence, only talking a bit about the weather and how cute eevee looks in her new bow. 

After breakfast, mum takes our plates to the sink and washes them off as she runs over our schedule for today “We’re gonna be going to hammerlocke to meet up with the chairman for a short meeting. It should only be a light review of what we will be doing over the next week since Gym Season will be starting in a couple months. We have a lot of prep work in the league, as you know. Anyway, after that, we should head over to the boutique just down the way, and after, we can enjoy lunch at Mont Blanc cafe. We should head over to Turfield to pick up some groceries after, then head home” She says, like the secretary she is. I nod absently, already sensing there will be a wrench thrown in our plans for the day. 

I am proven right far sooner than I expected to be, as, once we walk up to the stadium, Chairman Rose is speaking with a darkly dressed group. Mum’s smile tightens just the smallest bit in the corners and I see a tidal wave raging just under the surface. We approach in a calm manner, but Mum is anything but calm. She hates it when anything gets in the way of her careful planning.

“Hello, Mr.Chairman. I hope we aren’t interrupting something.” Mum says as she approaches, her smile still tight, but she nods her head respectfully at the small party the Chairman was talking to.

“Ah, not at all, Mrs.l/n. It’s just, Spikemuth is having a small situation that needs rapt attention. It seems a mad pokemon is roaming the streets. To the point of why it’s mad, we have no clue.” He says, showcasing a picture on his Flash Phone of a Bewear punching one of the ancient walls of Spikemuth. I squint a little at the picture and instantly realize that the creature has a chain wrapped around its neck, which is tightly wound. I give the group a deadpan expression as I point at the chain.

Chairman Rose looks at where I point and his eyes widen in surprise. “Oh, my. It seems there is a chain causing it’s plight. We shall have the problem dealt with swiftly. But leave the children, they might be put in danger if they come.” Rose says as he begins walking off. I finally take a moment to look at the other people who were with us. I recognize the middle age man who was talking with the chairman originally as the Spikemuth Gym leader, but don’t recognize the little girl with her hair done in pigtails, nor the slightly older boy holding her hand with short, black hair.

“Ah, but Mr.Chairman, I was only planning for a short meeting, then I was going to bring Y/n shopping.” The Chairman gives my mum a sideways glance before looking down at me. I can tell by the way he’s looking at me that he’s not impressed. Eevee seems to sense his look, so she lets out a low growl, which surprises the man.

“Oh, well, you’ll have to reschedule. Just give your daughter the money to go shopping for herself. She shouldn’t pick too poorly. And if she does, you can always correct her.” He says in an absentminded way. I decide right there and then that I dislike this man. I feel the temptation to stick my tongue out at him grow as he flips his stupid swirly hair out of his face.

However, when I catch mom’s eye to ask for the go-ahead, she sighs and gives me a apologetic look. Oh. So that’s how it is. “I’m sorry, sweetie, but duty calls. I promise to make it up to you later. But maybe you can make some new friends. Piers and Marnie are such sweet kids, I'm sure you’ll like them.” She says as she gestures to the pair of children. I give them another once-over before nodding my head. It’s not worth it to fight her on this.

“Alright, mum. But that means you have to go shopping for groceries with me tomorrow.” I tell her, to which she gives me a grateful smile. She hands me a wad of Poke dollars from her purse which I pocket, then kisses me goodbye and jogs to catch up with the Chairman. I really dislike that man.

I turn to face the pair of kids, only to find them turned towards each other and away from me. It looks like they’re conspiring against me, and we haven’t even introduced ourselves yet. Rude.

“Um… Hey there. My name’s Y/n. I know this is kinda sudden, but do you think we could be friends?” I ask them as if they weren’t just talking behind my back. The guy flinches before turning back towards me with a scowl on his face.

“Don’t know who you think yer talkin’ to, but we don’t want nothin’ to do with you.” He says in a thick accent. I roll my eyes at him before my eyes catch sight of the girl at his side. She has a very cute aesthetic around her, which makes the fashionable side of me spark my confidence.

I completely ignore the rude boy and turn towards the girl, a pleasant smile on my face. “I really like your style, ma’am. You wouldn’t be opposed to going shopping with me, would you?” I ask her. She smiles up at me and is about to open her mouth to answer before the boy huffs in annoyance

“Don’t go talkin’ to strangers, Marnie. It’s dangerous.” He says, which causes an annoyed tick to form on my head. Apparently, I’m not the only annoyed one.

“Bro, this girl clearly just wants to be friends. You don’t need to be all rude about it. Anyway, my name is Marnie, and this grumpy gills is Piers. It’s nice to meet you, and yes, I would love to go shopping with you, as long as yer buyin’.” She says, and I can immediately tell i’m going to like this girl. Her sweet outer appearance and sassy way of speaking makes me grin.

“Heh, well then, what are we waiting for?” I ask as I hook my arm under Marnie’s.

“To the boutique!” We shout in unison, both raising our outer arms.

Piers looks on in absolute confusion before realizing that his sister is being abducted. He shouts and runs after us, but his annoyance seems more playful now. 

We enter the boutique with gusto, both of us laughing at a Joke I just told. Marnie wipes a tear out of the corner of her eye as a cheshire grin spreads over my lips “And then he said ‘ That was onixpected’,” I finish my line of jokes as we walk to the first clothes rack. Marnie busts out laughing, holding her stomach from the pressure of her joy. I join her in laughing, just barely making out the sound of Piers’ own chuckle.

Once we all settle down, I begin scrutinizing the racks of clothes. Walking up to the hats first, I pull out a pink and red boater hat in each hand, eyesing them critically.

“Which one?” I ask Marnie. She immediately points to the pink one, and I nod appreciatively, placing it into my shopping bag. Marnie pulls out a pair of black pumps from a shoe rack, then gives me a questioning look.

“Did you look at the sole?” I ask her. Her eyes widen as she turns the shoes over, revealing brown soles. Her nose scrunches up and she throws them back onto the rack.

“Nice save there. Do you see any with a pink or black sole?” She asks as she continues perusing the racks. I gesture to a pair of the same shoe, but these ones have a black sole. “Thanks. Also, go for the green shirt for those shorts. It’ll bring out your eyes.” She says, gesturing to the polo I was eyeing.

“Ah, I thought so, too. Did you know they have ankle chains here? I bet they’d look good with those shoes.” I tell her, pointing to an area near the cash register. Marnie’s eyes light up and she practically bolts for the rack of ankle accessories. I chuckle at her as she goes, then go back to eyeing the shirt rack.

“Bet red’d look good on you.” A slightly familiar voice says from beside me. I look at Piers with wide eyes, only now noticing he had also decided to go shopping. His own bag is practically as full as mine.

“Y’think so? I’ll have to start incorporating it into my wardrobe.” I tell him as I pull a red skirt from the pile. He nods and silently turns back to the boy half of the store. That reminds me…

“I need guy shirts.” I tell Piers when he gives me a funny look as I pull up to his side.

“Ah, you’re one of those girls.” He says as I flip through a rack of sleeved polos.

I roll my eyes at him as I answer “No, I just don’t like the designs for the girls polos. I’m sure you’ve seen how gross they are.” I tell him, gesturing to the singular girl polo in my bag. I’m only getting it because it matches a couple bottoms that I have.

“ I suppose you’re right. They could do with a better pattern choice.” He says. We both shudder at the memory of the lined button-up. A truly horrid thing.

Once I pick out a couple polos I wander back to the girls section and my eyes catch sight of some of the most adorable jackets i’ve ever seen.

I manage to wrangle Marnie away from the bracelet selection and drag her over to the jacket rack. The sign right above the jackets reads “Lovely Nightmare”. One things for sure, I'm getting the darn jacket. Marnie agrees with my sentiments.

So, after a bit more sightseeing, Marnie, Piers and I are practically obscured by a mountain of our purchases. Eevee gives us unimpressed looks, but she can’t even say anything. At one point in time, she practically begged me to get her a miniature poofy jacket, which is now sitting on top of my pile.

“So, we got quite a few outfits. I think this deserves a fashion show.” I tell my companions. Marnie’s eyes light up, and she’s about to respond when our names are called out from a ways behind us.

We all turn around simultaneously and come face to face with the Spikemuth gym leader and my Mum. “Aw. Guess we’ll have to reschedule.” I tell them as my mum gestures for me to come with her. We say our goodbyes and go our separate ways. On the ride home I tell mom about my day, how Piers had been a bum at first but warmed up to me, how Marnie was great at color coordination and accessorizing. I even put Eevee’s jacket on her, which we all preened over, happy with how it turned out.

We decide to just eat train food for dinner and get our groceries tomorrow. The meal isn’t too bad. It’s a little cold, but I don’t mind as I dig into my chicken strips. Mum tells me how it went in Spikemuth, describing how calm the Bewear became after the chain was taken from around its neck. They still don’t know how it got there, but the Bewear made a full recovery after being sent to the pokemon center. Actually, she asked for permission to catch the pokemon, and got the go-ahead.

When we get home, Mum sends out her newly caught Bewear, whom she calls ‘Terry’. I approach him calmly and he trills happily when I pat his soft fur.

“Welcome to the family, big guy. I hope you like it here.” I tell him. He envelopes me in a surprisingly soft hug and waves goodbye before wandering into my mums garden, apparently wanting to get a feel for his new home.

I enter the house and begin sorting out my clothes. Eevee curls up at my feet as I fold the soft clothing, purring softly when I pet her on the head. After I hang up the last of my clothes, I give Eevee a big hug, then settle into bed to go to sleep. Eevee circles around on top of me and settles on top of my chest. Soon, her breathing slows and she falls asleep.

I kind of want every day to be like this one.


	10. Turfield

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. I hope you enjoy! Be sure to stay safe during these troubling times

Surprisingly, Mum wakes me up the next day. It’s not with the conventional “Wake up, sweetie.”,either. She yanks the covers off of me and tackles me into a tickle-hug.

“Ah-! Wha- mum?! Aha- What are you doin’?” I ask through gasps and slight giggles. Mum stops her assault for a moment to contemplate my question before diving back in to finish the job.

“Tickling you, silly. How else am I supposed to wake you up?” She asks, a smirk on her features. I finally gain enough consciousness and mental strength to push her back, going in for my own assault.

“Well, two can play the wake-up game. Prepare to lose this war, mother!” I shout. We continue our play wrestling for a while, when suddenly, a thud comes from my doorway. Terry stands there, open jawed and wide-eyed. Then, a gleam comes to his eyes and he bolts forward, crushing Mum and I in a hug.

“What is going on?” I ask, very confused as to what just happened. One second, mum and I are having a tickle war. The next, we’re being crushed by a cuddly bear.

“I think he wants to play with us. While I was bonding with him last night, I noticed he’s kinda touch starved. He also has quite a few scars, outside of the ones he got from the attack yesterday. I think he might’ve been abused in his last home. Considering he was still wild when we found him, I’m pretty sure he is a product of pokemon trafficking.” Mom says, and I take a moment to get a better look at our new companion. He’s quite scrawny in comparison to other bewear I’ve seen, and the scars mum talked about run down his arms and back. They look a lot like the bruises a pokemon gets from vine whip, except old and sunken in. My chest aches with unknown feelings, but I push them down. Instead of feeling sorry for the creature, I decide right then and there that I will do everything in my power to make him feel at home and welcome in my house.

Mum gives me a warm look as she begins untangling herself from her new partner. She pats his head and he stands up, still cradling me like a stuffed animal. “So, y/n, We are in desperate need of food. The berries in our garden aren’t going to cut it and I kinda want to make soup tonight. Are you ready to embark on the journey of your lifetime and go to the market in Hulbury with me?” She asks in her best narrator's voice. I giggle and try to escape Terry’s grasp, but he simply settles his chin on my head instead of letting me go.

“I would say yes if I could walk on my own. Mind giving me a hand?” I ask her, holding out my arms for her to grab. She ignores my plea and turns around, making her way to the front door.

“Nah, you look comfortable there. Besides, being carried is better on the feet then walking all the way there. It’s only a short ride to motostoke, sure, but the trail to Turfield from there is kinda hard. Wouldn’t want those slow steps of yours making the journey even longer.” She says, which I can’t deny will happen. The last time we went out together, what would’ve been an hour walk from motostoke to Hulbury turned into nearly three hours. By the time we got there, all of the good produce was gone. However, I did manage to get a couple good berry trades from the whole thing.

“It’s not my fault I was born with two left feet. With me, you either get slow and safe or fast and battered. There is no other way.” I tell her. Mum chuckles a little at my statement, then walks out the door, Terry following behind her. Soon after we exit the house, Terry positions me on his shoulder so he’s giving me a piggy-back ride and reaches down to pick up Eevee, who had been walking just ahead of him. He passes her to me and I have a hard time trying to position her in a way where neither of us would fall off.

Eventually, we get in a comfortable position, but when that moment comes, we are at the train station and I have to dismount Terry in order to get in the doorway. We all walk inside and show our passports before getting tickets and waiting for the train to arrive.

A ding sounds from my phone and I pull it out to see who’s texting me.

Leon: Wanna see something cool?

You: Sure. I don’t have anything better to do.

Leon: Attch: Img. 27

I pull up the image on my phone and immediately burst out laughing. It’s a picture of his sleeping Charmander, his face on the floor and his tail in the air. Stationed above his tail are two sticks with marshmallows at the ends of them. Hop is in the background, eyes bright with delight and Leon’s hair is barely visible in the corner of the picture. I think he might’ve been trying to get himself in the frame.

You: OMG, haha! We’re gonna have to do that next time we hang out!

Leon: Good luck w/h that, Charmander hates being used as a personal torch.

I chuckle a little, and my mom gives me an odd look. Our eyes meet and she looks like she’s been caught in the act.

“Ahem… Who are you talking to, sweetie?” She asks, gesturing to my phone. My first instinct is to pull my phone closer to myself to keep her from snooping. However, there’s no real reason to hide who i’m talking to from my mum, so I tell her what Leon and I had been talking about.

“Oh, you guys are so cute! It’s too bad you aren’t the same age, you would’ve made a cute couple.” She says in a teasing manner. A blush crawls up my cheeks and I bury my face into Terry’s arm, as he had taken to holding me as soon as we found our seats.

“Mum, no. We’re just friends!” I tell her, my voice being muffled by a mouth full of fur. My mom chuckles and pats my head sympathetically.

“Relax, honey. I’m just joking with you. Anyway, we’re going to reach Motostoke soon, so get ready.” She says, pointing out the window to the steam engine city in the distance.I straighten up and begin pulling my bag back on and hop off of Terry’s lap. Once I’m done getting myself settled, the train stops and we exit, instantly getting blasted in the face with steam.

Around a quarter way through the walk to Hulbury, Mum tells Terry to pick me back up. I managed to trip three times in my attempt to catch up with mum and stopped to look at a cluster of Rolycolys more than once. I pout a little as Terry lugs me onto his back like a sack of potatoes. From there, the estimated time of arrival decreases from two hours to half an hour.

“We really gotta do some cardiac work for you. And balance classes. And teach you how to stay on track for more than two seconds.” My mum says as Terry falls in step with her. I give her a blank look and she starts laughing because a huge chunk of my hair falls into my eyes.

“You may be laughing now, but just you wait ‘till you’re a little old lady in a wheelchair and I’m still on two feet.” I tell her in a flat tone. Mum starts laughing again and jokes about how i’ll probably be in a wheelchair far before she will. I don’t retort because I know she’s probably right.

We reach Hulbury a few minutes later and the warm sunlight makes me melt a little into Terrys shoulder. Now I really must look like a sack of potatoes. Mum guides us to the market part of the small town, pointing out certain vegetables we might need. She always goes for the most ripe ones, but I know we aren’t going to eat twenty tomatoes in one sitting so I ask Terry to trade a few of them out for a few under-ripe ones. We continue on like this for a while, just casually shopping and trading produce.

That is, until a loud crash is heard from the entrance of the market. If my memory serves me correctly, that’s where the wooloo are kept. A few shopkeepers rush towards the sound and I turn my head in the direction. A shock goes through me when I’m able to see exactly what’s going on, but then I remember what I'm riding on. Oh yeah. I’m, like, seven feet taller than normal. I watch the scene from my heightened vantage point and notice that, while there are quite a few adults in the area, there is only one kid. They’re big, for sure, but their face is definitely that of a kids. My eyes widen as a Dubwool starts charging right for him, but the kid doesn’t even flinch. Rather, he widens his stance and spreads out his arms, engulfing the creature in a vise-like hug. Terry trills below me. Apparently, he had been watching as well, and was impressed by the kids hugging skills.

I feel a shift below me and notice that we are heading in the direction of the wooloo outbreak. Somehow, someway, Bewear sneaks right past all of the farmers keeping civilians away from the fiasco and walks right up behind the large kid. Even in comparison to such a muscular young man, though, bewear towers above. His large paw reaches over the boys struggling arms and picks up the Dubwool like it’s a ragdoll. The boy yelps in surprise as he stumbles to the ground, and I hop off of Terry to offer my hand to help him up.

“Hey there. Sorry for surprising you there. Bewear must’ve wanted to help out.” I tell him as Terry runs off to pick up another sheep pokemon, scooping it off the ground like a handful of sand. The sheep lets out an indignant huff, but doesn’t really do anything else, accepting it’s fate.

“Ah, well, we could always use an extra pair of hands around here. Y’see, this is a common enough occurrence. Nearly everyday, actually. But yer Bewear sure did clean up this mess right quick.” He says as he gestures to Terry, who’s trying to stuff another wooloo into his arms. There’s at least five others and he’s having trouble fitting the creature into his stranglehold. He eventually gives up and places Wooloo on his head like a hat.

“Yeah, he’s a real peach. Anyway, now that you guys are almost done here, you wouldn’t happen to know where the eggs are, would you?” I ask him. The egg farmer has a tendency of switching up where he’s working every other week. It’s impossible to find him if you’re not a regular.

“Sure, it would be my pleasure to help you out. After all, you did the same for me.” He says as he takes my shoulder and begins leading me away from the wrangling farmers. Terry catches up with us a few moments after we depart, humming a pleasant tune. I turn around and find him cuddling with a particularly large dubwool, who looks incredibly displeased with his new position.

Eventually, we find my mum and I finally catch the strange boy’s name. His name is Milo and he’s one of the dubwool’s main stable boys. He wants to join the gym challenge, and he's already accepted a sponsorship to do just that. Mum introduces herself and we start back up on our trip to the egg stand.

Milo turns out to be great company. He’s funny and as bright as sunlight, always responding cheerfully to any comments. He has a lot to say about his town, how well it’s been doing lately, and how the gym leader is a great inspiration to all of the children in his town. He aspires to be like her. He also talks a little about his family, how his brother is starting to take after him in terms of hard work. He’s a little clumsy, but he’s got the heart for the work. For a four year old.

I talk about my own home, how it’s a lot like his town, filled with rolling hills and escape-artist wooloo. There’s a decent boutique in town, it’s got pretty good fashion. School is fun, a little hard at times, but that’s just because of how boring it is. We reach the egg stand in record time, still chatting each others ears off. Mum goes ahead and buys a couple dozen eggs and walks off, bored by our small talk. Terry stays just behind me, always keeping a watchful eye and occasionally glaring at passers-by.

“I’ve been meanin’ to ask, what’s up with your bewear? He doesn’t seem to like too many people.” Milo asks, gesturing to the bear who has taken to glaring at a berry hustler. I shrug my shoulders, because, honestly? I don’t have any clue why he’s being all sensitive.

“Mum just caught him yesterday. We’re pretty sure he was under the influence of pokemon traffickers before we got him. He probably just doesn’t have too much trust for people.” I tell him as I pat Terry’s arm. The bewear looks down at me and lets out a pleased hum, then goes back to looking around.

“Well, he must really care about you. He treats you like a cub.” Milo says, a smile on his face. A slight blush crosses my face at his comment, but I can’t deny the slight truth in his statement.

“Maybe he wants a cub. I’ll talk to mum about it later. Anyway, i’m kinda famished. Wanna go get a bite to eat?” I ask him, looking around for a good place to stop and eat a bit.

“Sure! We could set up camp and make some curry. It’s a nice day out.” Oh, so he likes to camp as well? I guess it makes sense, since he’s always out in the field. It’d be hard to trek all the way back home everytime you want a snack. We walk out of the market area and find a good clearing to set up camp. I pull out a pot from my backpack while Milo begins setting up the tent. By the time I have a fire going, the tent is up and Milo comes over to help me prep the food.

“How does dry toast curry sound to you?” I ask him as I pull out a fresh loaf of bread. A bright smile crosses his face as he nods adamantly. This is probably the happiest I’ve seen him all day. Turns out, his happiness is contagious and I begin smirking as we set up the food.

I pull out chesto, wiki, kelpsy, hondew and apicot berries from my shopping bag, lying them out on a thin towel. I pour a water bottle over the towel in order to rinse the berries while Milo begins pulling carrots, peppers and potatoes out of his own bag. He does a similar trick to mine to wash off his vegetables and we immediately set about chopping the ingredients.

Milo is methodical in his dicing of the vegetables, finishing in a manner of moments. I’m much more slow out of caution, but my berries end up cut quite finely as a means of drawing out as much flavor as I can. Milo fans the flames as I add water into the pot. The water is soon boiling, so I add in the curry powder. Milo gathers up the fruits and vegetables and plops them into the pot unceremoniously.

At the same time, we reach for our personal ladles and both freeze when we catch each other's eye.

“After you.” Milo says, smiling brightly. I feel upstaged, so I insist he should be the one to stir. We begin having a miniature argument over who should stir the pot but stop when Eevee cries out. We both look her way and she nudges her head towards the pot. We both look over and notice that there is a light plume of smoke curling over the top of the pot.

“Oh geez. Alright, I'll get this.” I tell Milo, bolting for the pot. I begin stirring at a slightly quick pace, pushing my ladle as deeply as it will go to try and get the burnt chunks of food from the bottom of the pot. Eevee and Terry let out pleased sounds as the food starts actually smelling like food, and even Milo seems entranced by the scent.

Once the curry is done cooking, I plate it over some rice that Milo had found time to start up and begin toasting the bread. I cut it in thick slices and pull out some butter from my bag to give it a nice crunch. Once I'm done serving everybody up, we all settle on my picnic blanket and dig in.

“Oh dang. This turned out really good.” I say after taking my first mouthful of food. I’ll have to remember to write out the recipe later.

“It really is. Probably the best impromptu curry I’ve had with a practical stranger.” Milo says after swallowing his own bite. Eevee lets out a little trill of happiness as she digs in and Terry silently eats his own large serving. The blush on his cheeks tells me it’s good, though.

“Do you have any Pokemon you wanna take out to share with? There’s still a lot left.” I tell him, gesturing to the half-filled pot. Milo nods and takes out two pokeballs, letting out a glossifleur and applin. My eyes light up when they land on the applin and I finish my food as fast as I can to coo over the adorable creature.

“Oh my goodness! He’s so cute! Where did you catch him?” I ask Milo, crouching in front of the apple pokemon.

“Oh, he came up to me on route five. I gave him a couple berries and he followed me home.” Milo tells me. I hold out my hand for the applin to sniff at. He snuffles a bit around my hand, lets out a pleased trill, then rolls towards me.

“I’m gonna keep him.” I tell Milo, picking up the tiny creature in my arms. I say it as a joke, but Milo’s eyes widen in worry. I tell him that it’s a joke, and the tension drops from his shoulders.

“But, in all seriousness, I kinda want one of these little guys for my team.” I tell him as I run my hand over the smooth surface of it’s apple skin.

“Well, they’re kinda hard to get in the wild. I wish you the best of luck.” Milo tells me. I let go of the Applin and he rolls towards Milo, curling up at his knee. Milo sets a plate of curry in front of him, which he takes and eats happily

Once we are done eating Milo takes out a metal ball and throws it. It goes an impressive distance and Glossifleur floats off to go get it. A couple minutes later, the creature returns with it on her head.

“Wanna try?” Milo asks me, holding out the ball for me to throw. I take it and heft it up. It feels like a shot put in my small hands. I push out to throw it and it bounces a few feet away. Eevee prances up to it and sniffs it curiously. She easily picks it up and brings it to me with her tail wagging.

“How do you make that look so easy?” I ask her as I try to pick the ball off of her back. I give up after it feels like I pulled something and Terry comes over to pick it up for me.

“C’mon, y/n. It’s only ten pounds.” Milo tells me and I sweatdrop at his optimism and Terry lets out a low sound in the back of his throat. I look towards him and see he’s holding the ball for me to throw for him.

“Alright, but just this once.” I tell him as I pick the ball up with both of my hands. I heave it away from myself with as much force as I can muster and it rolls about ten feet away. Terry lets out a happy sound and runs after the ball. He picks it up and comes back, giving me puppy dog eyes.

“Want me to do that for you?” Milo asks, gesturing to the ball. I nod my head and decide to just sit on the floor. Milo and Terry play catch for a while so I decide to take out a poke toy and wave it around. Eevee and Applin come up and begin mock tackling the toy. Glossefleur takes a nap. Everything is peaceful. It stays that way until we head home.


	11. Skwovet Snatcher

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some fluff and filler for you guys! I hope you enjoy!

“Finals are fast approaching, everybody. Make sure to be studying hard. Most of you only have a couple years left.” My math teacher says after taking attendance. Ah, yes, finals. It’s known far and wide as hell week. Summer break starts right after, meaning Leon will start his journey soon. 

Our math teacher begins ranting on and on about how finals week will go, but all of us heard this spiel last semester, so no one’s really paying attention. I doodle ghost-type pokemon on the margins of my open notebook, waiting for the lesson to actually start. It never does. That’s one whole page filled with funny looking ghost faces.

My next class is language arts. It’s practically the same thing as last period, except on computers. I don’t know where the school got the money for a laptop for every student, but I’m not complaining. I start writing out battle strategies for Eevee. She has a very good moveset for being so young.

History is the bane of my existence. Today is no different. There is no long speech about finals. Rather, we get a mock test, and a review on everything we’ve learned all year. Eevee touches her paw to my arm when I feel like I’m about to strangle the teacher. It’s not worth it.

Next is Physical education. One of the few classes I have a lot of fun in. Coach is in a better mood from the other day and I feel my own spirits rise when she says we have a free day. Leon, Raihan, Hop and I walk around the track, discussing our weekends. They seem excited that I got myself a girl friend. They say I have too many guy friends. I ask them who’s fault that is.

By the time I'm at my last period, I feel drained and dead on my feet. Leon offers to piggyback-ride me to the house, which I accept gladly. He drops me off at the door, then waves goodbye. Apparently, his teachers all gave him study packets for his last ever finals test.

“Good luck, Leon. I believe in you!” I yell at him as he walks down the road to his house. He turns back to smile at me, then trips over a stray wooloo.

Eevee and I crash once we reach my bed. My phone buzzes, to which I barely find the strength to pick it up. It’s a text from Marnie.

Marnie: Hope you had fun at school today! All of my friends were impressed with my new shoes. Thanks for that, btw.

You: I didn’t exactly have fun, per se. But I’m happy your friends liked your shoes. Anytime you want to go out shopping, I’d be happy to come with!

I don’t get a response after that, which I chalk up to her own weird texting quirk. Plenty of people have them. Leon sends way too many pictures, Hop texts like an elderly lady who does weekly bingo nights, Raihan seems to have a thing for going to as high of places as he can and doing a video call, which always gives me whiplash. I’m told I text back way too quickly. It’s just something everybody has.

A minute later, my phone pings again, but this time it’s for a reminder. What could I be forgetting?

Reminder: It’s Gardening day! Pull on your gloves, lazybones.

Oh right. I really gotta stop talking to my future self through phone reminders. It’s kinda creepy. But that’s besides the point. I throw myself out of bed and waltz over to my walk-in closet. I throw open the door, scrutinizing all of my clothes.

“Think I should go with one of my old shirts or that work flannel I got the other day?” I ask Eevee, looking over the two options I gave myself. Eevee makes a purring noise in the back of her throat, so I go with the flannel.

We head outside and it’s warmer than I thought it would be. I feel the sun's warm waves wash over me, and take a moment to just take it in. “This is the life, Eevee. Sleepy days at school, warm weather to work to and a nice breeze in the background. I could get used to this.” I tell her, to which she trills in agreement. After we’re done soaking in the sun, I head over to the garden shed.

I pull out my gardening gloves, watering can, plant food and berry grabber, lugging all of the materials outside for future use. Eevee carries a pair of tree trimmers and a trowel on her back.

“Maybe I should get you a cart or something. That looks hard to balance.” I tell her. She gives a little huff, but seems to warm up to the idea when she almost trips over a loose rock.

Gardening is dirty work, but it’s pretty fun. Especially when you get to experience your work. Mum actually started the garden when I was five, claiming it would keep her busy in the off-season. She ended up getting holed up at work quite often that year and began teaching me how to take care of it in her stead. She still goes out to work on it often enough, but everyone knows that i’m the main caretaker of the garden. I go about watering the flowers, and Mum’s budew come over, happy to see someone working on their home. I sprinkle a little water on them, which makes them twirl around in joy.

“Do you guys wanna teach Eevee how to dig up weeds?” I ask them. They nod their affirmative and begin ushering Eevee to a cluster of weeds, showing her the process. Eevee seems hesitant at first, but after she tears a weed clean out of the ground, causing a pleasing ‘Pop!’, she gets a whole lot more into it.

I drag over my fruit basket to hold my berries in while they continue de-weeding the land. I’ve been busy with school so much lately that it’s starting to look a little overrun. I lean my whole weight against the tree, causing it to shake and drop berries. A soft rustle comes from the tree.

I continue the process for a while, when suddenly, a large shadow jumps from the tree. “Ah, my old nemesis.” I say aloud as a particularly plump Skwovet falls to the floor in front of me. He quickly snaps out of his daze and faces me. I glare at him, and he returns the favor. Eevee bounds towards me, growling low at the creature.

“Haha, fool! I have a partner now! Whatcha gonna do?” I ask him. He promptly stuffs a loose berry into his already full cheeks and turns tail. Eevee bolts after him, latching onto his back with surprising force and speed. She smacks him on the back of his head, which makes him trip and drop some of the berries he had been keeping safe. Eevee snatches up one of the less saliva-ridden berries and places it on her back for safe keeping. The thieving pokemon is not pleased. 

“Eevee, use tackle!” I tell her, which she executes quickly. Before she can back up, however, the skwovet latches onto her with his teeth, causing her to cry out in pain. I feel my blood boil just under the surface. I see red for a moment, but clear my mind in order to give Eevee her next move.

“Eevee, use wish then follow it up with covet. I know he still has more berries on him.” I tell her. Her eyes open to reveal a nebula, then she closes them again, facing her target head on. The skwovet lets out a growl of dissatisfaction, making Eevee back down just the lightest bit, but then she’s back to running towards him.

This time, when Eevee latches onto him, he falls almost immediately. I guess that her last attack did more than I thought. She bats his cheeks, which spill forth another mouthful of berries. I nearly gag at the sight because, lets face it, watching throw up of any sort is disgusting.

“Eugh, Eevee, please don’t pick those up. Anyway, I think we can finish this off next turn. Take a bit to gain your energy back.” Eevee’s stance relaxes as a shooting star streaks across the sky, bringing with it healing matter. The bite on Eevee’s leg reduces in size, to the point it’s just a bruise. Her fur regains its sheen and Eevee shakes herself off. The Skwovet growls at her again, which I find kind of dumb considering how close to fainting he is, but pay it no mind as I tell Eevee to tackle him.

Skwovet falls to the ground and Eevee does a little victory twirl before sitting down and preening. I pat her on the head before walking over to the Skwovet, picking it up by its scruff. He lets out a dissatisfied hiss, which I reciprocate. “That’s what you get for always coming in here and stealing my food.” I tell him before walking over to my garden gate and tossing him over.

It may seem pretty mean to do that, but it’s the best way to keep a pest off your land. Otherwise, they keep coming back. In some cases, they make their homes up in your rafters and just come down to steal as much food as they feel like. It’s better to take care of it early on and assert your dominance. I will not have a repeat of two years ago.

After the little battle, Eevee decides to just take a sunbath. She’s not exactly wiped out, but it doesn’t hurt to rest after a battle. It’s almost dinner by the time I finish up in the garden, so I throw together a few sandwiches for myself and the pokemon that helped me out today.

We all decide to just eat in the garden and I clear off a metal bench that was there when we moved in. Mum usually uses it to rest after a long day in the office, but she hasn’t really had time to rest lately. This gym season’s opening ceremony is in a couple weeks, meaning Mum’s about to get a bigger influx of work.

I finish up my dinner before the pokemon do, so I start putting away the gardening tools. Once I’m done, I call Eevee to come inside and we head to my room. Eevee curls up on my bed, but she doesn't fall asleep. I join her and pull my laptop onto my chest, pulling up my study guide for Language Arts. It’s boring, so I put it away almost immediately after I open it. I do better on actual tests, anyway.  
I run my hands through Eevee’s fur until we both fall asleep. Mum comes in and turns off my lights sometime later, to which I mumble out a thanks, then fully drift off.


	12. Tea Time!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a bit of a set-up chapter. I hope you enjoy!

About a week into summer break, the postman walks up to my house with a letter for me. This is quite confusing as all of my friends have my number and don’t usually have flower printed paper that smells like vanilla and mint. I thank the postman for the letter and gently open it, observing it’s contents.

“Oh, it’s from Professor Magnolia. She’s inviting me out for tea and scones.” I say aloud. Eevee purrs as she circles my feet, happy with the idea of going out for some tea. It’s not too bad of an idea. All I've been doing this week is researching the pokemon league’s schedule for the next two years and fixing up the garden. The peonies are coming in nicely. Maybe I should bring some as a present.

I go and pluck a few flowers and wrap them in butcher paper to keep them safe before going inside to change my outfit. In a matter of minutes, I’m dressed and ready to set out. Eevee hops onto my shoulder and rides on me the whole way to Professor Magnolia’s house. When a wild Blipbug approaches us, she hisses threateningly, scaring the creature off. She’s quite protective, it seems.

We reach the professor's home in slightly less than an hour. The sun is high in the sky and her beautiful garden is a sight to behold. It’s well taken care of, and I notice a few rare herbs mixed among the normal every-day plants.

Eevee hops off of my shoulder when I walk onto the porch step. Almost as soon as I knock on the door, it opens and I’m met with the smiling face of professor Magnolia. “Hello, dear! I’m so glad you could come. It’s quite boring around this time, so I thought it’d be fun to have a bit of company for my afternoon tea.” She tells me as she ushers me inside. Her home is filled to the brim with plants and succulents, which creates an earthy smell in the space. A pot of tea is already steaming on the stove, sending a waft of sweetness in the environment.

“Ah, chamomile tea? That’s a good choice. Did you get it imported?” I ask her as I recognise the scent. Mum got a package of the stuff a while back and asked me to make it for her almost everyday. She said it helped her destress. I wonder for a moment what could be stressing out the professor.

“You sure do have a nose for tea. It is indeed chamomile I had imported from Kanto. It’s quite good on these old bones, so I try to have some on hand wherever I go.” She tells me as she pulls out a couple cups and sets them on the table. She walks around the kitchen and takes out different custards, berries and a few scones that smell fresh out of the oven.

“Oh, wow! These have a really nice look to them. What type of flour do you use?” I ask her, trying to create some conversation. Eevee hops onto my lap to sniff at the new food. She lets out a trill of approval at the smell, which sets my mind at ease. She’s been more and more picky about her meals lately.

“That would be Dream Dairy’s product. They have very good produce, if you ask me. Perfect for baking. The custards I made myself.” She tells me as she pours the tea into each of our cups. I take mine and blow on it, only sipping once the steam coming out the top settles.

“Oh, wow! This is good. I have a lot to learn from you.” I tell her.

“That brings me to my main reason for asking you here today. I want to ask about your education. What classes are you taking this year?” She asks, getting right down to business. I had suspected she had a double reason for inviting me over for tea.

“Most of my classes are honors. Except science. I’ve actually been taking pokemon sciences since my first year.” I tell her, which makes a smile grace her features.

“It’s like you’ve been preparing since you were born. I would be happy to call you my student. But not now. For right now I need you to keep honing your skills. Try to get higher level classes for your last couple years and keep up the excellent work in Pokemon Sciences. I will be watching how you progress and from there I will decide if you are worthy of being called Galar’s next Professor.” A confident smile graces my features at her words and I hold out my hand to make a deal with her.

“Then I promise to be back here in two years to receive my letter of endorsement.” I tell her, and she shakes my hand. We go on to more mundane topics. The weather, how Eevee’s been doing, family, what we’ve been doing lately. The professor has been up to her neck in new little challengers asking for their pokedex. She says she wants someone to create a phone or something so she can just make it into an app. 

“Well, technology has been advancing pretty quickly, what with the help of pokemon and all. I bet a new flash phone powered by rotoms will be out within a month.” I tell her kind of offhandedly. The professor laughs at my joke, not believing my comment is capable of coming true.

“Technology hasn’t been advancing that quickly. It’ll take another couple years before something that outlandish comes to pass. But, should it happen, I should probably start getting the software for the app ready. Ah, busy, busy, busy. There’s no time for little old professor Magnolia nowadays.” She says in an old lady voice, then returns to her normal tone. It’s kind of weird hearing her speak her age.

“Anyway, dear. It’s been lovely talking with you. Perhaps we could do a spot of gardening next time. But it’s about time I got back to my lab and you got back to being a little eight year old. I’ll walk you back to stow-on-side then we can go our separate ways.” She says as she stands up. I follow her to the door and all the way back to my hometown, happy with the way the evening had gone. The professor sees me off with a wave and a basket full of her homemade custard, telling me to share it with my friends.

Today feels like a huge success. Hopefully, tomorrow is just as good.


	13. Harvest Festival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this chapter, I will be switching the POV to second person, so instead of saying "I" all the time, it will be saying "you". Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy!

“Can you believe there’s only two more weeks until I turn ten?!” Leon asks the next morning as I walk into his house. Oh yeah. I know. After all, I’ve been working on his schedule for a whole week. 

“Yeah, It’s kinda hard to picture you going out into the world. Y’know, fighting monsters, keeping to a schedule, running around and not getting kidnapped. Geez, I’m making myself worry here.” I say as I begin fussing with my hair. Leon pats my back in reassurance, and feeling how much bigger he is than me allows for some reassurance.

“Don’t worry, y/n. I’m a lot sturdier than you think I am. Nobody’s gonna beat me.” He says with a reassuring smile. I pout a little but calm down at his words. I have to remember that he’s a lot stronger than I make him out to be.

“Anyway, I brought the ingredients to make some biscuits. Wanna call Hop down and we can all start working on it?” I ask, to which he nods and sprints up the staircase. A few minutes later, they both come stumbling down the stairs, Hop pulling down his shirt and trying to regain balance when he almost trips. Leon grabs him by his shirt collar and rights his brother before pushing past to the bottom of the staircase.

“You guys ready to start baking? We have a lot to get ready for.” I tell them as I pull out a nearly industrial amount of flour from my cart. The boys give me a weird look and I realize they’ve both forgotten what today is. “Guys, it’s August first. Y’know, the Harvest Festival?” A look of understanding dawns on their faces at that.

The harvest festival is a yearly event that happens on August first. All of Postwick, Wedgehurst, Motostoke, Turfield and Hulbury gather in the wild area and celebrate the year’s harvest and the children coming in for their first journey. There are four similar events for the different seasons of the year. The next one will be Halloween, then new years, then we’ll circle back to Easter. Ever since we were old enough to go, Hop, Leon and I have made enough biscuits for the whole thing and we even got permission to set up a stand. It’s kinda all my fault we even started the tradition. I wanted to meet new people and hit it off well with them.

“Well, these biscuits aren’t gonna make themselves. If we wanna have extras we should start now.” I announce to them and we all fall into the familiar pattern of mixing batter and forming the pokemon shaped biscuits.

“It's kinda hard to believe you taught us how to make these. I mean, I never would’ve thought i’d be able to make pikachu shaped biscuits in a million years!” Leon says from his spot in front of the oven, watching the pastries rise.

“Well, I was getting bored with just the circular ones so I thought it’d be fun if we could make them unique.” I call from the other side of the room. I’m mixing the honey I asked my mum’s combee to gather a couple weeks ago, getting it ready to go into my berry mixtures.

“Still, for being so clumsy, you’re a pretty good teacher.” He tells me once he rises from the floor. A timer goes off and he pulls out the first batch. “Wanna get the butter glaze, Hop?”

Hop is, surprisingly, one of the best at making biscuits. I entrusted him in making the batter and set Leon on the formation of the biscuits. I’m making jam, which is the part that makes the profit. We don’t sell the biscuits because we started them as a gift for everyone. We do sell the jam, however. 

“Man, those smell so good! Can’t wait to dig in.” I say after catching a whiff. They smell absolutely heavenly, and from experience, they are.

“Well, there’s still about ten batches left so you’re gonna have to hold your mudbray.” Hop says as he hip checks me. I bump right back into him, almost toppling him. Guess he’s still pretty tired.

We fall back into a comfortable silence, only talking occasionally. At one point in time, Leon gets distracted and doesn’t take the biscuits out in time, ruining a batch. We all chuckle about it and I offer to go out and give them to the wooloo. They eat absolutely everything.

Within the span of four hours, the biscuits are completely done and we feast on the fruits of our labor for lunch.

“Holy arceus, this is good. The jam turned out really good, too!” Leon says over a mouthful of food.

“I think this might be the best year we’ve had for these. Only one batch ruined is a huge improvement from last year.” Hop says after cleaning his face of crumbs. I shudder at the memory of last year. So many burnt biscuits…

“I say we head out early and set up our booth so we can be ready on time. There were a lot of setbacks last year so we didn’t even sell out. But I think we have a pretty good chance this year.” I tell them, which they agree to. We pack up all of the containers keeping our work safe onto my cart and head onto route one. Hop suggests we all play eye-spy to pass the time, and before we know it, the train is pulling up in front of us.

It’s about a thirty minute ride to the wild area and once we step off of the train we’re greeted by a plethora of different people from all of the different towns in attendance. They’re smiling and laughing, all enjoying eachothers company.

Watching all of the pedestrians and their partner pokemon milling about makes me happy as I set up the stand. It’s a simple pull-out table with a couple of portable ovens on top to keep the biscuits warm. Leon pushes the crates filled with our work under the table for future use, then suggests that we look around and help out the others set up.

We manage to make our way to the game booths, and I catch sight of a familiar head of unruly pink hair. Without much thought, I pick up my pace and manage to get right up behind the large figure before throwing myself onto him.

“Milo! Good to see you.” I exclaim as I get nearly thrown from his back in his surprise. He calms down at my voice and twists around to catch sight of me.

“Y/n! I didn’t think you’d be here.” He says, and I slide down his back to land on the floor. By this point in time, Leon and Hop have caught up and pant lightly from the effort of running.

“Y/n, you can’t just go running off in a place like this. Lee’s gonna get lost.” Hop says after he regains his composure. I give a sheepish look, then introduce Milo to Leon and Hop. They seem to get along well, so I consider my friend making skills to be top-notch.

“Anyway, you wouldn’t have happened to see a tall girl with pitch black hair and a tan by any chance? I’ve been looking for her for a while, but it’s like she teleported away.” Milo asks after getting through the pleasantries with my childhood friends. I take a moment to survey the area, when my eyes land on the fishing game.

“Is that the girl you’re talking about?” I ask him, sticking my thumb in the direction of the game. He looks at where I'm pointing, and many emotions cross over his face. Relief and disappointment are the most prominent of his facial expressions.

“Of course she’s at the fishing booth…” He murmurs under his breath as he stalks off to the small pool. I follow close behind him after telling Hop and Leon to go look for our moms.

We reach the booth and I get a better look at the girl. She has medium long hair that’s pulled back with some pins. She’s wearing a large white shirt and has shorts on, and you can’t help but think that she’s absolutely adorable, even if she’s taller than you.

“Ah, Milo! Good timing. I was thinking of giving this game a try. Do you have any tickets left?” She asks Milo, who shakes his head no. He mentions that she already used most of the tickets for the sharp-shooter game earlier.

“Anyway, I wanted to introduce you to someone. Meet y/n.” He says, and steps away so I can properly introduce myself.

“Oh! How cute! My name’s Nessa. It’s nice to meet you, Y/n.” Nessa says as she wraps me in a hug. I return the action, if with a little less force. Nessa giggles before setting me down so I can regain my breath.

Nessa, Milo and I begin chatting after, mostly about how cool this year's harvest festival is turning out to be. I mention my booth, which makes both Nessa and Milo perk up, then beg to see it and try out the food. I lead them to the little table and find my mom surveying the area, a clipboard in her hand.

“Mum! I brought some friends!” I shout at her, running at a decently fast pace. In my hurry, I don’t notice a loose rock on the floor and trip over it, only to be caught by mom’s Bewear. “Thanks, Terry.”

I quickly introduce Nessa to my mum, who seems happy to see me with a female friend. She ushers us to my booth and begins talking about the procedures for this year’s food handling. I listen for a bit before ultimately getting bored and dragging my friends away to go check out the other food stalls. 

“I hear the sugar dumplings are good here.” Milo says as we pass by the stall with a big dumpling on the front. We stop and order a few, then continue on our way. Practically any food that looked remotely tasty we ended up buying. I passed a small macaroon to Eevee, which she gladly accepted.

“Do you have a partner pokemon, Nessa?” I ask the tan girl, who instantly brightens up at my question.

“Why don’t we have a battle to see?” She asks, a cheeky grin plastered on her face. I hesitate a moment and look at eevee for confirmation. She shakes out her fur and bounds forward, a determined look on her features.

“Come on out, Chewtle!” She shouts before sending a pokeball fighting. She has a certain grace about her as she readies to battle, and I think for a moment that she’d make a wonderful model. The moment disappears as she orders her chewtle to bite.

Neither I nor eevee react quickly enough to dodge the attack, so she ends up taking the brunt of the attack. Eevee quickly shakes off the turtle pokemon and lets out a growl to ward off the pokemon. Chewtle backs off a little, but once it’s told to use water gun, it goes right back to attacking at full force. Luckily, Eevee predicts the move and jumps out of the way, only being lightly grazed by the attack.

“Eevee, use covet, then retreat.” I tell her, and she runs straight at the snappy pokemon. She swipes at him, then jumps back before he can latch onto her. I notice she didn’t get any items, so I assume Chewtle didn’t have anything on him.

“Good strategy. But you know he can attack long range, right? Chewtle, water gun.” Nessa says, a slight smirk turning up her lips. Chewtle shoots off a ray of water towards Eevee, who takes most of the attack, and I notice that she’s been taking quite a few attacks.

“Eevee, use wish. Then try for a tackle.” I shout at her, and she responds by opening her eyes, revealing a nebula. Now all we have to do is survive the next two turns.

“That move only works if you can make it for two turns.” Nessa sings, then commands Chewtle to tackle Eevee. Eevee jumps out of the way of the attack in a graceful arch, then does something mostly unexpected. She uses a quick attack.

“Oh, wow. Nice going, Eevee! Just one more turn, now.” Eevee shakes out her fur, then squares up into a ready position, waiting for chewtle’s next attack. He charges for her with an open maw, clearly going for another bite. I warn her of the attack and she turns and uses her tail as a guard.

“Your wish is coming true!” I shout, and she shakes herself out, the luster in her coat returning and the bruises she received dying down.

Nessa seems a little put out by Eevee’s recovery, but goes right back into the battle. She continues to use hard-hitting moves while Eevee prances around, barely avoiding most attacks and only attacking when an opening occurs. Nessa has a well-planned battle pattern, and the fact that Chewtle only has injury-inducing moves seems to have been taken into account. Whenever Eevee gets too far away for physical attacks to land, Nessa has chewtle use water gun to draw her back in. When she’s in mid-range, chewtle uses tackle to get closer, then finishes the blow with a bite. Her pokemon reacts quickly and efficiently to her every command, and I find it to be a thrilling battle, even when Eevee eventually lands on the ground, exhausted from the battle.

“That was great, Eevee! Thank you for the amazing battle.” I tell her as I scoop her up into my arms. She wheezes a little, but purrs when I start petting her. I pull out a few sitrus berries and oran berries, which she eats greedily.

“That was ace, y/n!” Nessa shouts as she sidles up to my side and throws her arms around my neck. I laugh a little at her shenanigans before giving her the prize money, which she looks at with a glint in her eye. “Now I can buy some more game tickets!”

Milo, Nessa and I go and buy a few tickets before heading over to the game booths. We play a few of the more competitive games before I have to go to my biscuit booth and start serving. Nessa and Milo offer to help out and end up going around telling people to come and get some hot buns.

The night passes quickly with an almost eternal supply of customers. Leon and Hop end up having to leave early, but by the time they head out we’ve already gotten rid of most of the biscuits and sold all of the jam. I hand out the rest of the jam then ask Nessa and Milo if they want to go out and we spend the rest of the night wandering around, eating food and playing games.


	14. Birthday Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, I just noticed there's been a lot of focus on Leon lately, gonna fix that next chapter. I hope you enjoy!

Leon’s birthday approaches faster than you could’ve predicted. A couple of weeks after the Harvest Festival, you’re sitting on his bed, swinging your legs for amusement as you wait for him to wash his face of the cake that it was smashed into earlier. After a few minutes, he exits the bathroom and re enters his room, a slightly sour look on his face.

“Why must my family torture me like this?” He asks you as he attempts to wipe sticky crumbs from his shirt.

“At least you didn’t have your hat on when they did it.” You tell him with a smirk as you hold his hat out to him. He gratefully takes it and presses it down on his locks before looking up at you with a smirk.

“Well, I’m officially ten. I can start my journey now.” He tells you, and you feel the smallest of pains in your heart, but you push it down. He’s supported you through your entire life, now it’s your turn.

“I bet it’s gonna be really fun! Do you have your pokedex yet?” You ask him, and his face tells you all you need to know. “So that’s a ‘no’, then. We could go to Professor Magnolia’s lab and ask her for one.”You tell him, and he agrees with your suggestion.

“Ms. Leon’s mom! We’re gonna go get Leon a Pokedex!” You shout as you and Leon make it to the front door. Leon’s mom gives you a quick thumbs-up as she passes Hop a plate of cake, which he takes gratefully. You slip on your shoes and exit the house, Eevee prancing up to your side in the process.

The professor's lab isn’t too hard to get to, in your opinion. Unfortunately, your clumsiness and Leon’s habit of getting lost makes the short walk almost an hour long.

“Maybe I should give you a piggyback ride on the way back.” Leon says as you delicately clean up your scraped knee and put a band-aid on the cut.

“And get lost in the process? No thank you.” You tell him, which he pouts at.

Before you can stand back up to enter the lab, the door bursts open and a tall girl that looks slightly older than you with curly red locks and a cute green dress pops out. You blink owlishly at her and she repeats the action to you before turning to Leon. A bright smile crosses her face as she makes eye contact with your best friend.

“Leon! I was wondering when you were gonna come over and get your pokedex. Come in, come in!” She takes Leon’s hand and drags him inside the building while you stand up and follow them. Once you enter, you’re greeted by the familiar scent of tea and cookies. The professor is looking over a book but looks up once the girl calls her name.

“Ah, Sonia. So this is why you were in such a rush earlier. How nice of you to bring in my little apprentice and her friend.” Professor Magnolia says, her voice light and delicate. It feels different from the other times you’ve talked with her. A little more scripted, professional. You suppose that the other times you’ve talked with her, it’s only been yourself and her in the room.

“I’m not your apprentice yet, Professor. Anyway, I brought Leon here to get his Pokedex. Do you have one he can use?” You ask her, and she nods her head before leading Leon to a little side room. Sonia stays back and glares daggers at you.

“So your the girl gran’s been gushing about. I don’t really see what’s gotten her all worked up. You seem pretty weak to me.” She snips at you once both Professor Magnolia and Leon are out of earshot. You take a moment to look her over and aren’t entirely impressed yourself.

“Maybe she just likes my tenacity. You don’t have to be the strongest person in the world to become a professor.” You tell her simply, then saunter over to the kitchen area to start brewing some tea.

Sonia pouts a little at your aloof nature, but lets it go in favor of ogling Leon. You don’t know why but that gets on your nerves. You choose to ignore the thought and focus on brewing the tea.

Eevee hops onto the counter to sniff at the different herbs and spices, sneezing here and there when she finds some that she doesn’t like. You take out a pen and write down the ones she practically gags at for future reference.

“You’re using your pokemon as a science experiment?” Sonia suddenly speaks up and you startle a little at the harshness in her voice.

“Um, no? I just wanna make sure I don’t feed her anything she doesn’t like. It’s not like she can see what food she’s getting into.” You mumble the last part, but Sonia seems to perk up at your words and walks closer to your pokemon to observe her.

“She’s blind, right? Granny said something about your pokemon having a disability. How do you plan to work around that? You could always evolve her into Umbreon. Their eyes don’t function as well as the other eeveelutions so she’d be more attuned to the darkness either way.” Sonia says and you flinch at the slightly clinical way she views your partner.

“I want to let her decide what she wants to be. It’s not fair of me to take away the freedom to evolve from her.” You say as you delicately run your fingers through her fur. Sonia observes you with wide eyes for a second before she seems to come to a decision.

“You’re a good person.” She states simply, then walks off with her hands behind her back. You stare in her direction for a few moments, but the sound of the kettle whistling snaps you out of your stupor. By the time you’ve finished pouring out the steaming liquid into a few mugs, Leon’s back with the Professor and they gratefully take the tea. You all sit around the table and discuss when Leon will be heading out to start his journey.

“I was thinking of leaving at the start of next week so I can get prepared, maybe even train a bit. Y/n was saying that’s a couple days before this season's opening ceremony, too, so I should be able to make it to the event on time if I don’t get lost.” Leon says, and you face palm at his bluntness. He’s most definitely going to get lost.

“Sounds like a plan, dear. You can invite your friends and family to the event, you know. You get a number of tickets for participating so you can choose who the recipients are.” Professor Magnolia says as she types on her phone and brings up the League Page that shows more details of the event. Apparently, the Chairman is offering free boarding at the Budew Drop Inn to all incoming contestants and up to five free tickets for family and friends. It's a very generous offer and you can’t help but wonder where all of the money is coming from.

Once you and Leon say your goodbyes, you leave the Professor's lab and head back towards Leon’s house. You almost trip yet again so Leon puts you on his back. Whenever he starts to stray from the path, you point him in the correct direction. It’s with this method that you make decent time getting back to the house- forty five minutes!

Once you reach your destination, Leon’s mom invites the both of you inside for dinner, then asks if you want to have a sleepover, which you gladly accept. You end up on the floor in Hop’s room with Leon and Hop in the bed. In the morning, you find yourself sandwiched between the two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a discord for this fic! I'm not quite sure how to use it, and it's pretty much my first time doing something like this, but I hope it turns out well. The chat is titled "#caretaker-pokemon-fanfic". Again, not really sure how to do this sort of thing!   
> Oh, here's the link: https://discord.gg/YUP27t


	15. Play Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy!

Leon’s departure is tearful, but the knowledge that you’ll get to see him in a week for the season’s opening ceremony lessens the blow. You packed him a basket full of your best berries in case he wants to make curry while on the road, then waved him off at the train station. You spent the rest of the day in your garden, trying to exhaust yourself and avoid running into the wild area after him.

Raihan comes over around lunch time, his trampinch trailing behind him. You welcome him inside and offer him some tea and cookies, which he gladly accepts.

“You know he won’t leave forever, right?” Raihan speaks up when you begin to get too lost in your thoughts. You shake yourself out of your own head in order to answer him.

“I know. I’m just worried about him. I’ll probably worry about you just as much. And when it’s Hop’s time to leave, I'll worry then, too. I’m just a worrier.” You tell him, a small smile curving your lips. Raihan takes a sizable bite out of his third cookie and you feel pride in the fact that he’s enjoying the pastries so much.

“I know you are. That’s why I’m here. So, tell me where you wanna go. We’re gonna spend the whole day together, not worrying about our accident prone friend.” Raihan smirks, but his words make you see that he’s just as anxious as you are. You decide to go along with his plan.

“Alright then. How about we go into town and paint the streets red. With berries. Cuz I want some cherri berries for dinner tonight.” You tell him, then drag him out of the house. It doesn’t take long for you to end up on his back, as you trip the moment you get onto the main road. You’re honestly impressed with the time it takes to get to the town. Less than twenty minutes is a new record! Eevee doesn’t seem pleased with the near frantic speed Raihan was going at.

“So, you wanna check out the berry stand, right? Let’s go.” Raihan drags you to the store and the manager immediately recognizes you. He tells you he’s got a special shipment in the back and asks you to wait. While waiting, you browse the little cartons full of fresh fruit and vegetables, looking for any you want to take home.

“Do you always do the shopping in your household?” Raihan asks as you pick up a small bag of potatoes.  
“Pretty much. Mum’s always busy at work and doesn’t have time to get stuff for the house.” You tell him, which he nods at. You notice that he’s picked up a small bag of assorted fruits and ask if he’s gonna cook them for dinner. “You could make a really nice mixed berry jam with those. Some simmered fruit also sounds nice.”

“I was just gonna eat them as they are. Takes too long to try and cook them up.” He mumbles, a slight blush on his cheeks. Does he… Not know how to cook? The revelation sounds outlandish, even in your own mind, so you have to say it out loud. Raihan’s blush triples in redness and he ducks into his sweater, trying to avoid eye-contact with you.

“Raihan, I’ve decided on what we’re gonna do today! I’m gonna teach you how to cook!” You practically shout in his face, and he backs away from your suddenly loud tone of voice. The store clerk comes back with a basket that has milk, eggs, a spool of wooloo yarn and a package of cherri berries. Since you do most of your shopping here, the owner always has a little care package for you.

“Thanks, Steve. Think you could throw these in there?” You ask, and hand him your bag filled with different vegetables, sugar and a large apron. He rings you up and it doesn’t take long until you’re out of the door, bag of groceries in hand. Raihan comes out not too long after with his own slightly smaller bag.

Raihan offers to give you a ride back to your house, but you decline, not wanting to weigh him down with your bag. The walk is much longer and Eevee enjoys running through the tall grass. Trampinch joins in the frolicking and a pleasant smile makes its way onto your face. Pokemon are just so cute.

Once you’re back to your house, you quickly unload your groceries, then turn back to your friend. Raihan sweat drops at the sheer amount of determination in your features.

“I’m gonna teach you how to make spaghetti.” You state simply, and Raihan calms down a little. Spaghetti’s supposed to be a fairly simple dish to make. You were definitely starting off easy, but you’d be damned if this boy didn’t walk out of here knowing how to make a simple pasta dish.

“Now, tell me what sort of things go into making spaghetti.” You address Raihan, and he lists the basics; noodles, tomatoes, spices. You nod at his answer and lead him to the spots in your kitchen where you can find such ingredients.

The next order of business is to take out a pot and get the water boiling. You add some salt to the water, which Raihan questions. “Salt water boils faster.” Is your simple reply. While you wait for the water to start boiling, you boss Raihan into washing the vegetables, which he finds simple enough. You picked out some fresh tomatoes, bell peppers and cherri berries, which you said would add a bit of spice to the dish. After he’s done rinsing the veggies, you guide him in chopping the vegetables, showing him what parts are inedible or that you don’t want for this particular dish. He notices the expert way you wield a knife and makes a mental note not to get on your bad side while you’re in the kitchen. 

It doesn’t take long to dice up the vegetables into small pieces, and you throw them into a second pot to simmer. While that’s happening, Raihan goes into your pantry to retrieve the noodles. He puts the noodles into the boiling pot of water in the way that you instructed him to, and after a few minutes, they’re soft and ready to be eaten.

“All that’s left now is to drain the noodles and plate. Think you can handle that?” You ask him as you wield a strainer like a weapon. You throw it in the air but before you can catch it, he grabs it and heads to the sink. He takes the pot in his hands but realizes too late that it’s still scalding. He drops it onto the counter with urgency, and you startle at the panicked look in his eyes.

“Oh arceus. Did you burn yourself?” You ask him as you lightly grab his hands, careful to avoid his red palms. You carefully guide him to the sink and turn on the water, waiting a second for it to get cold. “Keep your hands under the water. I’ll be right back.” You tell him, then run in the direction of your bathroom. You throw open the door and open the medicine cabinet, grabbing a burn heal and a cooling salve as well as some bandages.

“Eevee, can you get one of the dubew in the garden? We’re gonna need them.” You tell her, which she’s quick to respond to, jumping through the open kitchen window to get to the front yard. “Let me see your hands.”

Raihan takes his hands from the water and you flinch at the angry red welts that mar his skin. It looks like he might end up with scars. You shake the idea from your mind and focus on the task at hand. “This is gonna sting.” You warn before spraying the burn heal onto his skin. He withdraws his hands from your grip, but you quickly take them back, keeping a firmer hold this time. Before he can make another action, you spray the rest of the affected area, then dab at it lightly with a fresh towel.

“You, uh, seem like you’ve done this before.” He stutters a little, his voice shaky from pain. You look into his eyes, then look away guiltily. This was your fault. You shouldn’t have been so insistent about making pasta.

“I’m a clumsy person. I’ve burned myself in any way that you could imagine.” You tell him, then draw back the sleeve of your sweater to reveal old scars as well as some slightly newer ones. Before he can question you about it, Eevee pushes the door open and the Budew follow her inside. “Budew, could you use life dew?” You ask her, which she nods at, then opens her bud. A small drop of water splashes onto Raihans hands, then dissipates like it never even existed. The swelling in his hands goes down and you can finally begin wrapping them in bandages. Your work is methodical and practiced and Raihan understands how you’ve done so well in a medically focused science class for so long. Your skills could rival a nurse joy’s.

Once you finally let go of his hands, he flexes them a bit as a test. The bandage isn’t so tight that he can’t move his hands, but he can’t completely close them without difficulty. The stinging has gone down to a light throbbing and he’s honestly just impressed with your quick actions and medical know-how.

“You did a really good job! Thanks, y/n.” He says, then wraps you in a hug. You blush a little at the action, but return it anyway.

After you untangle yourself from the embrace, you order Raihan to sit at the table and wait for you to finish up the food. In a manner of minutes, you return with two plates with steaming food piled on top. The pasta is cooked to perfection and the subtle spiciness of the sauce makes for a savoury dish all around. 

You see Raihan off with a container full of the pasta, then return to your room. As you lie in bed, thinking about your day, you realize you hardly thought about Leon leaving at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a discord now! I've never done something like this before, so tell me if i'm doing it wrong, but...  
> The link is https://discord.gg/YUP27t  
> with the chat titled "#caretaker-pokemon-fanfic"  
> Thank you for your support!


	16. Train Ride

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy!

“Wake up, Y/n. We’re gonna miss the opening ceremony!” Your mom calls from the kitchen as she brews some tea. Eevee hops onto your face, nearly suffocating you in the process. Just before you can reach up and snatch her off, she bounds away, then snickers when you grumble at her. Such a sassy pokemon.

You spend approximately ten minutes deciding on an outfit before finally pulling on a navy polo, navy boater hat, red pleated skirt and a pair of sand boots that you hadn’t worn in a while. You decided to actually do your hair for once and pulled the unruly locks into a pair of twin braids.

“Well don’t you just look a treat. I’d reckon you’re bound for quite a few long looks today.” Your mom says as she barges into your room. Well, it’s more like bewear barges into your room. He’s taken to carrying either you or your mom at any opportunity.

“Thanks mum. But I’d bet all eyes are gonna be on the contestants today. I can’t wait to watch the ceremony.” You tell her, a glimmer in your eyes. Your mom taps Bewear’s arm and he lets go of her, allowing her to fall to the floor. Your mom pulls a Pink Bow out of her pocket and hands it to you. You look it over before glancing at Eevee, understanding the meaning of the action.

“League challengers can be a rowdy group. I don’t necessarily want you fighting, but you know the saying. ‘When a trainer's eyes meet’ and all that. It’s just a precaution.” She tells you while you fasten the bow to your pokemon. She shakes out her fur and you’re happy to see that the bow stays in place. 

“Thanks, mum. I’ll try not to get into any fights.” You tell her, then head into the kitchen. Your mom made pancakes for breakfast, and you were eternally surprised with how she could cook so well, even when she wasn’t trying to be fancy.

Once you’re done eating, you climb onto Terry’s back and get carted off to the train station. Your phone flashes with a message while you wait.

Marnie: The gym leader is refusing to go to the event! He’s so stubborn

You: What?! Isn’t it a league requirement?  
It takes a few minutes until you receive a reply, but in the mean time you show your mom the message. She gives a loud huff, then takes out her own phone and starts typing angrily.

Marnie: Idk, i’m just the messenger. But he did mention stepping down soon, said he’s gonna wait a few seasons.

You read over the text a few times before it sinks in. Spikemuth gym leaders are notoriously fickle. They never give any warning about what they’re going to do, which makes them a wild card. They also have to overcome the obstacle of not having a power spot for their gym, which puts a lot of stress on their shoulders to make a great show. It makes sense why the current gym leader would be overwhelmed. But it still makes you kind of sad. Who’s gonna take over the gym?

You: Well, thx for the heads-up. See you later!

Both you and your mom head into the train, but when you board, you catch sight of Hop and his mom, who wave you over. Your mom ends up sitting next to Hop’s mom and pushes you and Hop into a small booth across from each other. You both end up taking out your phones and swinging your legs, occasionally kicking eachother. After a few minutes, Hop speaks up.

“Y’know, I’ve been thinking of getting my own pokemon, just so I can practice with you. We could be like school rivals!” Hop says as he looks out of the window, observing the different pokemon passing by. You also look out of the window, catching sight of the rolling hills filled to the brim with adorable pokemon. You can’t help but wonder what Hop’s team will look like.

“Sounds like a good idea. We could ask your mum.” You tell him, then call over the kind lady. “When do you want Hop to get his first pokemon?”

“Well, I’d prefer it if someone caught it for him, but with Leon away on his journey, it might be a while before something like that happens.” She murmurs the last part. Your eyes light up a bit as a thought comes to mind.

“I could catch one for him.” You offer, and Hop practically jumps out of his seat, stars in his eyes. “Or maybe I could try my hand at breeding…” You trail off, thinking of all of the different things you could do to get Hop a pokemon.

“You’d do that for me?!” Hop yells and grips your hands in his. You give him a gentle smile and an affirmative nod. He whoops at your reply and jumps up and down. Unfortunately for him, the train comes to a halt just as he’s about to sit back down, which makes him fly forward and ultimately land on the floor. 

“We are now at Motostoke station. Enjoy your days!” Someone says over the train speakers, and everybody begins standing up and exiting the train. You help Hop off of the floor, then exit the train as well.

“I thought if anyone were to fall while on the train, it’d be you.” Hop pouts, staring at the floor. You also pout at his comment, but just before you can say anything, you trip on a protruding slab of cement. Hop grabs you before you can completely fall and pulls you back into a standing position.

“Ah, thanks. I guess that’s Karma for not falling earlier?” You suggest, which he contemplates. He eventually agrees with your sentiments, and you both continue on your way, jogging to keep up with your parents.

“Mum, don’t go walking off! You know I’m prone to accidents.” You tell her when you eventually catch up, wobbling a little from the sudden stop. She places her hands on your shoulders to help balance you, which you’re grateful for. Maybe you should start taking balance lessons… It might help you with your tripping problem.

“Sorry, hun. You know me… I just love to wander around.” She answers with a wide grin, which is entirely too bright for a woman who nearly just lost her child. “Anyway, the opening ceremony is going to take place in the gym, so we should head over.” She tells you, then begins to walk over to a large gear-shaped contraption. You find it kind of impractical, but your mom steps onto it without much of a fuss, so you follow. She presses a few buttons, and the contraption begins moving, which makes you stumble. You fall to the ground, but decide not to try to get back up. Who knows what other movements the machine will make.

“C’mon, honey. Other people need to use the elevator, too.” She tells you, but when you don’t get back up, she sends out Terry to pick you up. You decide that you very much do not like elevators, at all.

Once inside the stadium, your group is directed to their seats and you all wait for the events to start. While waiting, you and Hop start talking about what you’ll do during your own adventures.

“I wanna be just like Lee!” Hop shouts when you ask him what he wants to do, so you assume he wants to join the gym challenge.

“You sure? You could be like me~. There’s tons of fun to be had as a professor!” You tell him, a cheeky grin coming to your face. He thinks over your response, but shakes his head ‘no’. He really wants to be like his brother.

“Besides, then I’d have to take your weird science class. I’m all for competition, but your class is kind of cut throat. Didn’t one of the other students try to frame you for cheating on your test last year?” Hop asks, which brings back the memory of that day. It was the final for the year and you’d stayed up so late trying to study that when the test was over, you knocked out. When you woke back up, it was to the teacher yelling at you about cheating and a couple people nearby snickering.

“Oh yeah, I remember that. Luckily, the teachers Alakazam stood up for me, otherwise I wouldn't be where I am today.” The teachers Alakazam had the special ability to thought project and replayed what had happened, proving your innocence.

You guys go back to talking about more mundane topics after that, but there’s still a sick feeling in your stomach at the reminder of what had happened. Eevee prods your hand when she notices how unresponsive you became, which snapped you out of your thoughts. That was in the past now. You are old enough to fend for yourself now.

All of a sudden, the lights in the stadium begin to flash on and off, signaling the start of the event. A hush comes over the stadium as the chairman takes to the field, dressed in a gray suit that compliments his hair. You still aren’t sure what to think of the man, but you are determined to not let his charisma block your judgement.

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to our summer gym challenge. I hope you will enjoy the wonderful battles to come!” He announces into his mic, his voice carrying all across the stadium yet somehow not echoing. The crowd cheers at his words, some even standing up in their excitement.

“I know you’ve all been waiting for this big moment! So now, get ready to meet the people our beloved challengers must face to prove their skills as trainers!” He shouts, then points to one end of the field where people begin to emerge from an opening.

You recognize most of the seven people who exit; you’d met the grass gym leader, Cherry on one of your food runs in Turfield. Kabu and Melony were well known gym leaders, along with the fairy type gym leader Opal. The next gym leader that you recognize is the gym leader from Hulbury who specializes in electric type pokemon, Venton. All that’s left is the dragon type trainer, Kayda and the gym leader from Stow-on-side, a new leader, Bea.

They look tiny as they walk out onto the field, but their presence is massive, proving how they got their gym leader titles. The stadium rumbles with applause, but you notice that eevee isn’t looking so good. Before you can return her to her pokeball, she puts a paw on your hand to prevent you.

“Why not? It’s clearly hurting you to be here.” You tell her, but she shakes her head, determined to tough it out. You admire her determination, but still try to covertly cover her ears to block out the sound of the roaring crowds. She licks your hand in gratitude, then you guys go back to watching the opening ceremony.

“Now entering the gym challenge for the first time, meet this summer season's challengers!” Rose calls out, pointing to the opposite end of the field from where the Gym Leaders exited, where a large group of people begin to emerge. You watch expectantly, waiting to see the familiar mane of hair emerge from the opening. You wait… and wait… and wait.

Finally, the last few stragglers are ejected, but none of them has the violet hair or vibrant golden eyes of your best friend. You and Hop share a look before simultaneously standing up and heading for the exit, your moms giving you understanding looks.

Time to go find your idiot best friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a discord now!  
> The chat room is called "#caretaker-pokemon-fanfic" with the link being https://discord.gg/YUP27t


	17. A Sad Farewell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's so short. I wasn't sure what to put to make the chapter any longer... Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

“You don’t think he’s still in the wild area, do you? He couldn’t possibly be that stupid.” You mumble to Hop as you enter the pokemon center. It’s a treasure trove of information and the only place you could think of to find out where Leon is.

Hop looks around, but when neither of you see a mane of lilac anywhere, the answer is clear. “He might just be.” Hop tells you as you walk up to the Nurse Joy smiling happily behind the counter.

“Have you seen a young man with a snapback and a terrible sense of fashion?” You ask her, to which she nods her head. You’re about to look away dejectedly, but turn back when you fully process her words, excitement filling your eyes. “You have?! Where? Did he say where he was going?”

“Yes, he said he needed to hurry to the gym stadium, but he kind of went the opposite way from here.” She tells you as she cocks her thumb towards route four. You call Hop over and tell him what Nurse Joy told you, which makes him facepalm.

“We’re gonna have to go into route four, aren’t we?” He asks as you head out of the pokemon center. You nod solemnly as the two of you jog towards the route.

It takes a few minutes to get to the opening of the route, but you’re impressed with yourself for not tripping once. Now if only Leon could stop getting lost. The two of you pick up your pace a bit as you enter the route, asking any trainers if they’d seen your friend. Finally, a girl gives you an affirmative, then points you towards a hill that has a berry tree on top of it.

“Leon! You better have a good explanation for why you didn’t show up to the opening ceremony!” You shout as a familiar head of purple hair comes into view.

“Y-Y/n! I didn’t expect to see you here. Not that I really know where here is…” He says as he looks around in confusion. You grab hold of his and Hops hands and begin stomping back in the direction of Motostoke, fuming at his stupidity. How could he miss the introduction? His own debut?

“Listen. Your mom’s gonna kill you when we get back, so I’m not gonna chew you out too badly. But you’re an adult now! Even if ten is way too young to be an adult, you still gotta step up. Take charge of your own life. And for Arceas’s sake, get to places on time!” You shout at him as you continue forward, stumbling a little when you don’t see a rock in your way. Hop and Leon pull you back into a standing position before you can kiss the floor, which alleviates some of your anger, but apparently Eevee caught onto your bad mood and starts hissing at Leon’s charmander, which is kind of funny to watch.

“C’mon, Eevee, he’s had enough. Anyway, neither of you are hurt, are you? You guys haven’t been battling?” You ask them, looking them both over. Other than a small bruise on Charmander’s side, you don’t really see anything. Eevee passes him an oran berry, which he eats gratefully.

“No, not really. We wanted to hurry over to Motostoke, but it looks like we completely passed it by!” Leon says with a small chuckle in his voice. You roll your eyes at his care-free attitude. He really doesn’t understand the consequences of his actions.

“Look, Leon. The gym challenge is wholly audience based. If the audience doesn’t like what they see, they’re going to complain, which means somebody’s going to get kicked. The fact that you’re being endorsed by the Chairman might protect you for right now, but if you keep on pulling the disappearing stunt, you’re going to end up out of the running. It doesn’t matter if it’s an accident or not.” You tell him simply as you pet at Eevee’s mane. Leon looks shocked by your words, like you’d just told him the sky was falling.

“There’s no way you didn’t know this when you signed up! It’s the whole premise of the stupid sport. It’s the whole premise of every sport! If you aren’t interesting, you’re out. Simple as that. You gotta start getting your head in the game.” You tell him as your group passes into Motostoke. In front of the Budew Drop Inn stand yours and Leon’s mom, one of whom has a particularly scary face.

“Well, see you later Leon. Hop and I are going to the pier.” You tell him as you grab Hop’s hand and drag him away, only catching the beginning of the woman’s lecture.

“Is it true what you said about the gym challenge?” Hop asks once you’re out of earshot of your parents.

“Yep. My mom’s been working for the League for a long time, and she’s always talking about how unfair it is, but she can’t do anything about it. It’s why so few people make it past the third battle. That’s the first cut-off point. Any subpar people who make it past the third gym are slowly picked off by the other gym leaders.” You tell him, shrugging your shoulders like it’s common knowledge. Hop freezes up behind you and you turn to face him, catching the sight of tears forming in the corner of his eyes.

“Does that mean… I might never make it?” He asks, tears starting to fall down his cheeks.

“Whoa! No! That’s not what I’m saying! You’re super good. I’ve seen your battle strategies. After all, I am the grader for your classes test sheets. Kind of part of the whole ‘Pokemon Sciences’ class. Not sure why. But I have seen your work and you’re amazing. Super smart! I’m sure you’ll do great in the gym challenge.” You tell him as you engulf him in a hug. He wraps his arms tightly around your waist as you draw circles on his back, trying to calm him down. He sniffles a little, but loosens his hold, allowing you to back away.

“You’re right. I’m gonna do great. I’m gonna be the next champion!” He tells you, a determined look passing his face. You give him a small smile and a pat on the back, fully agreeing with him. You can tell this kid’s going to do great things.

You and Hop return to the Budew Drop Inn just in time to catch the tail end of Leon’s lecture. “...and don’t you ever go running around without a map ever again!” Your friend's mom shouts as she lightly hits her son with a town map, then hands it to him. He rubs the back of his head sheepishly, but by the grin on his face, you can tell he’s going to get lost as many times as he can. 

“Ah, y/n. There you are. We’re going to be taking you home, so get your things ready.” Leon’s mom says as she catches sight of you and Hop.

You shuffle a little to make sure that your backpack is secured, then head over to Leon, throwing your arms around his shoulders. “I’m rooting for you, so don’t you go losing.” You mumble, and his grip around your back tightens. You give him one last squeeze, then backup, averting your eyes to try and hide your slight blush. You’re really gonna miss your friend.

Hop is the next one to give his brother a hug, and it seems like there’s some sort of exchange between the two of them. Once Hop lets go, he runs up to your side and tightly grips your hand as you all see Leon off. The ride home is silent and sad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a discord for this fic! I'm not quite sure how to use it, and it's pretty much my first time doing something like this, but I hope it turns out well. The chat is titled "#caretaker-pokemon-fanfic". Again, not really sure how to do this sort of thing!  
> Oh, here's the link: https://discord.gg/YUP27t


	18. Chesto Berries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're revisiting the Slumbering Weald today! Honestly, my favorite place in the game. I hope you enjoy!

Once summer break ends, things go back to normal. Raihan teases you, you hang out with Hop after school, and you get the occasional invitation for tea with Professor Magnolia. Your mom starts to let you go out more often, and the pull of mystery brings you to the Slumbering Weald most days. Like today.

“C’mon, Eevee, the fog isn’t too thick today. We should get quite a bit of exploring in before we need to head back.” You tell your partner as you peer into the forest. Eevee trots in front of you as the both of you walk through the cool forest.

Most of the forest’s pokemon are quite amiable, even if a few of them like to fight. You stay out of the grass as much as possible, not wanting to risk getting into a battle, but when it does inevitably happen, Eevee is quick to take down the opposing pokemon. She’s growing really quickly and you’re really proud of your partner.

Before you can get to the clearing you and Leon had made it to the first time you’d entered the forest, you turn around, but not before leaving a pile of berries. You’re not sure why, but it feels like the smartest move.

Before you can move to exit the forest, you notice something a little ways in front of you. It’s a figure, and they seem to be in pain if the way they’re breathing is anything to go by. You hesitate for only a moment before you decide to see what’s wrong.

The closer you get to the figure, the more familiar they look. It’s… Sonia. She’s passed out on the ground with a Yamper pulled to her chest. You get on your knees once you’re close enough and shake her shoulder, trying to get her to wake up.

“Sonia. Sonia! This isn't the place for a nap. You’re gonna get hurt if you stay out here.” When she doesn’t respond, you let out a groan and pick her up. She’s surprisingly light, which is good since you aren’t sure if you’ll be able to carry her very far. Once you have her situated comfortably, you tell Eevee to pick up the Yamper, then begin to stumble away from the clearing and towards the exit of the forest.

After tripping on about five rocks and three branches, you are finally able to see the light at the end of the forest, and quicken your pace. Eevee is able to keep up with you easily, even with the bigger pokemon on her back.

“Should we take them to the lab or treat them at the house?” You ask your partner, who tilts her head towards your house. You nod and quickly enter, setting your patients on the couch so you can retrieve your medical supplies.

You aren’t entirely sure what happened, but the yamper looks exhausted. After thinking on it, you take out a chesto and sitrus berry, which you mash together and nurse into the still sleeping pokemon. Meanwhile, Eevee brings in one of your mom’s Budew, who you ask to use life dew.

“W-what happened?” Sonia asks as her eyes flutter open. Rather than respond to her question, you shrug, not entirely sure of what happened yourself. You’re still not sure on what grounds you stand with Sonia. She was kind of rude during your first meeting, but she’s been a bit kinder since.

“From the looks of it, you passed out in the Slumbering Weald. It’s possible you ran into a strong pokemon, but I wasn’t there to see, so I can’t say for sure.” You tell her as you continue to slowly nurse the injured pokemon.

“Oh… I remember now. I saw that Yamper headed into the Slumbering Weald and followed it. The farther in I got, the thicker the mist became. I think I saw a silhouette, and then everything went dark…” She tells you, and the scene is too familiar to be a coincidence. However, you aren’t about to break the promise you made with Leon, so you keep quiet about your previous experiences.

“Sounds scary. Maybe don’t do that again.” You tell her simply. She sighs dejectedly and nods at your response, then looks at the Yamper who’s sipping greedily at the cup you’re holding for him.

“Is he going to be okay?”

“Should be fine. He’s still wild, so he’s probably going to be a little aggressive when he fully comes to, but he seems like a strong pokemon. Reliable.” You tell her as you run your fingers through his mane. Sonia lets out a breath of relief, then fiddles with her shirt, clearly a little uncomfortable with the situation.

“I’m sorry I was rude to you when we first met. You just… Seemed like an attention seeker, taking away my grandma from me, then bringing Leon to get his pokedex. Not to mention your pokemon. I mean, normal people don’t usually carry around their pokemon, much less their disabled ones! It’s not normal.” She tells you, not entirely helping her position with the slightly mean words. “But then I realized that’s just who you are. You like helping people and pokemon. You want to better yourself and the things that surround you. I guess this was the final drop in the bucket to prove that to me.”

“I didn’t really like you when we first met, either. You were rude for no good reason and I don’t like that you cling onto my best friend. That’s selfish of me, I realize, but people can’t help the way they feel. I guess what I’m trying to say is that we have a right to our own thoughts and our own actions, but it’s still wrong to be mean to eachother. So I propose we stop being rude and start over. What do you say?” You ask, and hold out your hand for a shake. Instead of taking it, Sonia engulfs you in a hug, which jostles the electric type in your arms just enough to wake him up.

Immediately after waking up, Yamper startles and rolls out of your arms to the ground. He looks around the new environment, clearly confused, then looks at you and starts growling uncontrollably. Upon further inspection, it looks like he’s trying to defend Sonia, which is really cute in your opinion.

“Alright, alright. I’ll back off, so you can stop growling at me.” You tell him as you scoot away. He immediately stops his growling and sits down amicably, curling up between Sonia’s legs.

“Looks like you have a new partner. Treat him well.” You tell Sonia with a wink as she reaches down to pet between Yampers ears. He pushes his snout into her hand and begins licking, happy at the attention.

“I don’t know. Gran might not want me to have a pokemon yet…” Sonia says sadly. You roll your eyes at her words and pull out a piece of paper, scribbling something down on it before passing it to your new friend.

“Trust me, she’s gonna be ecstatic. Especially when she sees that note. But I think you should tell her about what happened today. It seems like there’s been some action in the forest and somebody should check it out.” You tell her. Sonia agrees with your statement before standing up. You follow her actions and lead her to your door, waving goodbye as she walks down the dirt road and towards route one.

Once you’re sure she’s far enough and on her way home, you settle onto your couch and take out your phone. Eevee hops into your lap and bats at your hand until you start running your fingers through her fur. You pull up the League Challenge records for the week and blankly scroll through the match-ups until you come across the one you’re looking for.

Leon had his first battle against the grass-type gym leader almost a week ago, and headed off towards Hulbury immediately after. He’d taken your words to heart, apparently and was being really punctual to all of his matches and challenges, even those scheduled with other trainers. You just hope he won’t overwork himself. To quell your worries, you open a chat and send a text his way.

You: How are you doing? Have you eaten yet?

Leon: Yep. I stopped at the Captain’s Table for a bite, now I’m just waiting for the matches to be announced. I might do some shopping after.

You: M’kay. Just be sure to get to your match in time. Oh, and be careful with Charmander. He isn’t invulnerable, y’know.

Leon: I know. Thx, y/n. I’m gonna head back home after this battle, so have some sweets ready!

You laugh at your friend's childishness, then tuck your phone away. Maybe you should make some scones or something… Clotted cream would really hit the spot right around now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a discord now! I've never done something like this before, so tell me if i'm doing it wrong, but...  
> The link is https://discord.gg/YUP27t  
> with the chat titled "#caretaker-pokemon-fanfic"  
> Thank you for your support!


	19. Rookidee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy!

Walking to school with Hop is by far not a new experience. The pokemon on Route One are calm and hardly make any trouble for all who pass through. So why? Why are the two of you being chased down by a larger than usual Rookidee?

The answer is simple.

Eevee, sweet, sweet blind little Eevee, kicked a rock and sent it flying straight into the tall grass. A harmless action, on most occasions. However, fate was cruel as a very angry Rookidee apparently got hit in the head by the rock and came flying straight at your small group.

“Hop, I think we’re gonna have to battle it!” You shout at your friend as you trip over a loose pebble. You aren’t exactly built for running and the rocky terrain is not helping. Hop gives you a fearful look, but notices your struggle and allows a small nod.

Quick as a whip, you turn around, Eevee mirroring your actions and facing the small bird. Before either of you can act, he shoots forward with a vengeance, landing a peck straight to your pokemon’s side. Eevee staggers away just in time to avoid the same move.

“Use Covet.” You command your partner, who jumps onto the opposing pokemon’s back and swipes at him. She comes back with an oran berry which she promptly drops a safe distance away from the battle. Rookidee, enraged by his food being stolen, dives down on your pokemon for another peck. She takes the brunt of the attack, but shakes it off just fine. You get the feeling this Rookidee is too underleveled to be facing your pokemon.

“Eevee, use a quick attack. We gotta hurry this up.” You tell her as you glance at your phone. It’s only about twenty minutes before classes start and you don’t really want to ruin your attendance record.

Eevee follows through with her attack and even manages to land a critical hit, which you praise her for. The Rookidee tries to keep airborne, the stubborn thing, but in the end it falls to the ground in a heap. You feel kind of bad for attacking it and leave a few berries for it to recover with before turning to Hop and giving hm a thumbs-up.

“Okay! Let’s get to school. I don’t really feel like getting yelled at.” You tell him, then take off towards the school at a brisk pace.

Classes pass by quickly, but you can’t help but feel like you’re being watched the whole time. You take to looking out the windows often, trying to see if you can find the culprit since none of your classmates seem to be the cause of your discomfort. On a few occasions, you catch a glimpse of blue, but you ultimately brush it off as a pokemon running past the window.

It’s during P.E. that you can’t deny that you are being watched, as even your group of friends tell you they feel watched.

“I know, right? I’ve been getting the feeling all day and I’m starting to get uncomfortable. I’m pretty sure it’s a pokemon. Maybe that Rookidee I battled this morning? It did seem kinda mad…” Hop nods at your statement, then points at a tree a little to your left.

There, on one of the low hanging branches of the tree, is the same Rookidee from this morning, caught a little off guard by the fact you saw him. His feathers bristle at the sudden attention and he tries to make himself seem larger, which isn’t hard since he’s already bigger than the average Rookidee.

“Wait, you battled that thing? And won?” Raihan asks as he catches a glimpse of the bird. You nod absentmindedly as you run your fingers through Eevee’s fur. She sighs contentedly at your touch, practically melting into your embrace.

“Yeah. It wasn’t that hard. Eevee and I have been training. Plus, we have a constant pest problem in my berry trees which lets her get a pretty much routine workout. I’d say in terms of the usual growth rate of an Eevee, she’s gonna get Baby Doll Eyes soon, then I kinda want to teach her a TM. I’m not sure which one, though.” You tell Raihan. Before you can walk another step, Raihan reaches out a hand to tug you back a step and you narrowly dodge stepping on the person in front of you’s Nickit.

Once P.E. is over, your group heads to their usual spot for lunch, happily munching away at your meals. You’ve taken to making lunches for both of your friends lately, which they greatly appreciate, especially the little sweets you put in, which are always the first to go.

Before you can get too far into your meal, Raihan’s Trampinch tilts his head up and Eevee’s fur bristles. You look around for the cause of their distress and make eye contact with the same Rookidee from earlier.

“Guys, I think the Rookidee has a grudge against me and I’m not sure what to do.” You tell your friends, who look at where you’re looking, catching sight of the navy bird.

“I don’t know, Y/n. Maybe he just wants to be friends with you. Or maybe you hurt his pride when you beat him and now he’s out for revenge.” Raihan suggests, to which you hit him on the back of the head for.

“Don’t even joke about that! Do you know how scary smart those birds can be? If he’s actually plotting something, I’m gonna end up dead in a ditch somewhere, no questions asked.” You whisper-yell at the tan boy, who rubs the back of his head.

“Why are you whispering?” Hop asks and you explain that you don’t want the bird to be able to recognize your voice. Your friends laugh at that, which eases you enough to let out your own chuckle.

By the time you pack up from lunch and head to your next class, the Rookidee is nearly completely out of your mind. That is, until the end of the day.

You decided to walk home alone, Eevee by your side, but you somehow got cornered by the Rookidee. Your earlier fears of dying in a ditch somewhere flash through your mind and you laugh at the irony, but before your fears can make you go crazy, the Rookidee rolls a ball your way.

Confused, you look down at the pokeball and realize it’s been used to capture a pokemon. You pick it up from the ground and dredge through your memories before recalling how to check which pokemon has been caught in the pokeball. It’s a Rookidee. You look up into the beady eyes of the pokemon in front of you and feel a pang shoot through your heart.

This pokemon was abandoned.

“Your trainer… They left you, huh?” You ask the pokemon, who solemnly nods his head. You clench the pokeball tighter as you look at the abandoned pokemon. He doesn’t deserve that sort of treatment. Nobody deserves to be abandoned.

“I’m sorry. That’s a real mean move to pull. I don’t mean this out of pity or obligation. I’m saying this as a trainer and as a friend, but… Do you want to join me?” You ask the pokemon, who’s eyes light up at your words. He lets out a delicate coo and hops forward, if a little hesitantly, before jumping onto your head and pecking lightly. You giggle at his actions before pocketing the pokeball, then heading home.

Your mom is there when you enter the house, and she looks really surprised to see a new pokemon resting on your head. You tell her about his situation, and she agrees that you can keep him, on the same conditions that you keep Eevee.

So, that night, you spend time with your new partner, creating a little nest out of an old box and newspaper clippings. From your deduction, he has a Rash nature, if his reactions to Eevee’s comments is anything to go off of, so you start to plan out his diet, mainly going for rawst and hondew berries as you put together his dinner.

That night, you sleep soundly with your two partners at your side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a discord now! I've never done something like this before, so tell me if i'm doing it wrong, but...  
> The link is https://discord.gg/YUP27t  
> with the chat titled "#caretaker-pokemon-fanfic"  
> Thank you for your support!


	20. Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the long wait! I was distracted with the new DLC. That being said, I hope you enjoy!

You’re in the kitchen, throwing together a few pastries, when it happens.

Rookidee goes insane.

You aren’t sure what triggers it. He was sleeping peacefully on the windowsill not even a couple minutes before, but here you are, cowering under the kitchen table with Eevee bundled into your arms while your new partner flies around, his eyes glazed over and his talons bared.

You realize, a bit too late, that this might be a panic attack. You take a couple gulping breaths before scooting out from under the table, curling up to make yourself seem a bit smaller while you approach Rookidee. His sharp eyes turn your way before you can even get halfway across the kitchen, but his gaze makes you stop.

Your heart wrenches when you notice tears in the corners of his eyes. He must be in a lot of pain. You let out soothing sounds while you slowly inch your way closer to your friend. His eyes are still glazed over, but he’s a bit calmer now and he’s tucked his talons back into his body.

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay. I’m not gonna leave you, I promise.” You whisper, just loud enough for him to hear you. Rookidee lowers slightly so that he’s on eye-level with you. You reach out a hand tentatively, which he lands on. His claws dig into your skin, but you keep yourself from flinching. He lets out a weak coo at you and rubs his head against your forearm.

“That’s it… It’s all gonna be okay. I’ll always be here for you.” Rookidee slowly makes his way up your arm, his steps weak. When he gets close enough, he settles his head against your cheek and lets out a small sigh. You run your fingers through his feathers for a while in soothing and calm strokes before he eventually falls asleep leaned up against you.

You set him gently down on the kitchen counter then ask Eevee to watch over him for a bit. You take off to your room and return a bit later with a hooded shirt. “I’ve seen a few trainers put their partners in their hoods. Think it’ll work?” You ask Eevee as you pick up the little bird. Eevee lets out a chirp at you, which you assume is her approval, before you slide Rookidee into your hood.

He instantly burrows into the smooth fabric and lets out a pleased sigh. You turn back to the pastries and get back to putting them together, asking Eevee to get you ingredients every now and then. Before long, you have a couple batches each of cupcakes and cookies. A knock at the front door stops you from frosting the last batch and you set down the piping bag to go to your front door.

“Y/n! You ready?” Hop asks when you open the door. You don’t really know what he’s talking about until your phone chimes and you pull it out to check the notification.

*Leon’s coming over for a break!

“Oh. Um, yeah. I’m almost ready. Just gotta finish these sweets. You wanna come in?” You ask your friend, who gladly takes your invitation and trounces into your house.

“Smells really good!” Hop tells you as he plops down onto your kitchen counter. You hum in agreement before picking up the piping bag and finishing the cute little flower design you were going for.

All of a sudden. Hop gasps in surprise. Confused by the sound, you turn around to question him, but he keeps his eyes on your back.

“Don’t panic, Y/n, but the Rookidee from the other day is in your shirt.” He whispers.

“Huh? What are you… Oh! You’re talking about Rookidee. Yeah, he’s my partner now.” You tell Hop as you reach behind you to run your fingers through Rookidee’s soft feathers.

“Oh, cool. No wonder you have those punctures. Just like Eevee, eh?” He questions, but you’re a little confused at his words. Until you look at your arms, that is. Then the memories of Rookidee’s talons digging into your skin come rushing back.

“Ah, yeah. I hope not all of my partners do the same thing. I only have so much skin!” You joke as you run your hand over your arm. The punctures are light and only bled a little while they were still open, but you realize you need to wrap yourself up soon to avoid getting an infection.

“Wanna finish up with the decorations while I get some bandages?” You ask Hop, which he nods at. You run towards the bathroom and pull out the first aid supplies. After a bit of sifting through the medical equipment, you find a large bandage and antiseptic.

You return to the kitchen to watch Hop finishing up the last cupcake. It’s a bit sloppy, but you’re impressed that he even managed to copy your complicated design. You clap him on the shoulder and congratulate him on a job well done. The sound, unfortunately, wakes up your sleeping partner.

Rookidee immediately flies out of your shirt, squawking and snapping at your friend. You take action and pluck the bird out of the sky, cooing softly to him and telling him to settle down. Hop clutches at his chest, clearly scared of the ferocity of the small bird.  
“Arceus, that’s a feisty one!” Hop yips as he backs away from your frowning pokemon. You carefully pat down Rookidee’s puffed up feathers and continue to whisper nonsense words against his ruffles before gently setting him on your shoulder. He immediately digs his talons into the soft flesh and you take it as a sign that he’s still nervous.

“Rookidee, this is Hop. Hop, Rookidee. I might give him a nickname since they’re so common around these parts… Eh, I can think about it later. For right now, we should get going. Don’t want Leon getting lost on the way to your house.” You tell Hop as you place the delicate sweets into containers. Hop grabs a few and takes out a cupcake for the road before the both of you head out.

Rookidee stays permanently perched on your shoulder throughout the walk to the station while Eevee trots through the tall grass, keeping an eye out for any aggressive pokemon. She trots back up to your side when you’re about to exit Route 1 and curls between your legs, nearly tripping you in the process.

Hop laughs at your ‘clingy pokemon’ before his eyes suddenly brighten up. Waiting at the front of the train station, in his amazingly horrible clothes, is Leon, bright smile present on his face as he watches the two of you trot up.

“There’s my favorite little brother and best friend! Ooh, and cookies!” He exclaims as he immediately heads towards you. Instead of wrapping you in a hug like you thought he would, he grabs for the cookie container in your hands. Before he can reach it, Rookidee hops onto your hand and snaps at him.

“Looks like there’s one more in the group than usual. Caught yourself a Rookidee, eh, Y/n?” He questions and holds out his hand for the bird to examine. Rookidee tilts his head at your friends gesture before promptly biting down on it.

You snatch your new partner away and scold him a little while Leon shakes out his injured hand. Meanwhile, Hop is in the background, laughing his butt off while stuffing his face with cookies.

“I mean, you kinda deserve it. You just went straight for the sweets instead of, like, a hug or actually saying hi.” You tell Leon when he gives you a pout. Your words only make him pout more so you decide to have mercy on him and pass over the cookie container.

The three of you decide to go for a walk around town while Leon recounts his gym experience. A lot of the townsfolk go out of their way to greet Leon, but you think nothing of it for a while. It’s a small town and everybody knows everybody. However, when one of the traveling salesmen comes up to greet him, you begin to wonder exactly how well Leon’s been doing for himself.

“Geez, Mr.Famous over here. Looks like you’ve been making a name for yourself.” You mutter after the salesperson leaves. Leon picks up on your words and wraps an arm around your shoulder, avoiding Rookidee all the while.

“Is that… Jealousy I hear? I didn’t know the great Y/n L/n could feel such an emotion! Honestly, I thought it was above her.” He quips. You stick out your tongue at him and turn away, heading towards the general store. While there, you pick out a few basic ingredients you plan on using to make dinner. Before anything else can be said, you shove the food into Leon’s arms and direct the group back to your house.

Once there, the three of you go about your business like it’s a regular day. Leon plops down on the couch, Hop sits on the floor and plays with Eevee and you go to put your groceries away. When you go back into the living room, Rookidee glides over to the couch and sends glares Leon’s way until you sit down next to him.

You can’t help but enjoy how peaceful everything is. The light filtering through the open windows sets a warm atmosphere and the familiar view of Leon napping on your couch and Hop playing with your partner set your mind at ease.

That being said, the entire atmosphere is shattered when a loud crash sounds from outside of your house.


	21. Catchphrase

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoy!

“It’s that darned wooloo again.” Leon mumbles when the three of you exit the house. Upon closer inspection, it is indeed the same trouble-making wooloo from before, the one who broke into the slumbering weald and nearly got itself killed.

“Geez, it’s like it’s asking for trouble.” You mumble as you watch the fluffy monster as it rolls across the fields, fur occasionally snatching on loose twigs and rocks. It rams into its brethren, getting them riled up, clearly trying to start something.

“I dunno, I think it’s got spirit!” Hop yells, jumping happily in his spot as he watches the little sheep roll across the fields. An idea comes to your mind at his words. He did say that he wanted a partner… Why not get this Wooloo for your friend?

“Alright. Let’s catch him.” You tell your friends before throwing on your boots and running outside, straight for the rouge wooloo. Leon and Hop jog up to your side, the older of the two keeping up with ease while Hop trails just behind the two of you.

“You do know he’s not wild, right? We have a pokeball for him.” Leon tells you, but by the look he’s giving you, he’s all too amused with the situation.

“I just want to weaken him so we can calm him down. Then, I wanna ask your mum something…” You trail off, wondering how to go about asking your friends’ mom to give the Wooloo to Hop. It shouldn’t be too hard, but you aren’t sure how you’ll proceed if she says ‘no’.

“Sure, sure. Here, let me do it.” He says, then steps forward. To your immense surprise, he sends out a charmeleon. The creature turns to you and gives a solid nod, then turns his attention to his trainer.

“Wow! Charmander evolved. I’m guessing that’s gonna be your debut pokemon for when you go for your third gym badge, right?” You question your friend, who just smirks in response. Even if fire against fire isn’t the best match-up, it’s still a crowd pleaser and most people in Motostoke enjoy heated battles between fire types.

“Yep. I was thinking of reteaching him ancient power, now that he's at a higher level.” Leon tells you and Charmeleon immediately brightens at his words. You don’t remember Charmander ever having ancient power, but it’s not entirely impossible. It’s a breeding move, like Eevee’s Wish and you suppose that means Charmander was bred in a very specific manner.

“Not a bad idea. It’ll be a good match-up against Kabu’s fire types. Make sure you have some ground and water types and you should be fine.” Leon agrees with your words and the two of you decide to finally turn back to the rampaging Wooloo, only to find it wrapped up in Hop’s arms. Huh. That was unexpected.

“You guys wouldn’t quit your yammering so I decided to take matters into my own hands.” He says simply, a bright smile on his face. You pat him on the back for his great work then reach for the wooloo, who tries his best to headbut you from Hop’s death grip. Suffice to say it doesn’t work.

“Now then. Whaddya say to this little fellow becoming your partner, Hop?” You ask your friend, who looks confused at your words before brightening exponentially.

“Are you serious? That’d be so cool! Just imagine, beating the Champion with Dubwool and maybe a few other partners at my side… I can see all the different possibilities now!” He cheers and hugs the Wooloo tighter to his chest. You understand his happiness and cheer right along with him.

“Wait, you want a Wooloo as your first pokemon?” Leon questions, as if he’s not sure he heard you and Hop correctly.

“Why not? They’re easy to train and their evolutions are very sturdy. This guy’s as good a starter as any.” You point out, but Leon doesn’t look quite as sure as you feel.

“It’s just, people usually get a fire, water or grass-type as their first pokemon. You’re the exception with Eevee, but that’s because of the dire circumstances.” Leon points out, but you’re not sure why he’s bringing it up. Wooloo would be a great starter pokemon. He’s strong, reliable, and ready to take on the world! Why is Leon so against him?

“Lee, I think Wooloo is a fine starter pokemon. I want him, nobody else.” Hop states firmly, his amber irises practically glowing with determination. Leon seems taken aback by his brother's bold words, but relents with a smile.

“Of course, bro. Wouldn’t have it any other way.” You watch as Leon pats his brother on the head, then reaches for Wooloo. The pokemon puffs out in adorable rage at Leon’s advance, then chomps down on his hand. You can’t help but admire the pokemon’s fiery spirit and his ability to stand up for himself. Good on him.

After that, your group heads over to their house and you spend a bit of time convincing Hop’s mom to give him the Wooloo. After seeing hop adorably they get along, she relents and passes over the pokeball. Before Hop can fully claim the pokemon as his own, his mom pulls him aside for a talk and you do the same with Leon.

“What’s up?” He asks as you step outside of the house. The flowers lined up in pots sway lightly in the wind and you admire how delicate they look before answering your friend.

“Why are you so against Hop having Wooloo as a partner?” You question. Because, honestly? You don’t see why he shouldn’t have the pokemon. They get along like a house on fire and it’s clear Hop is happy with the pokemon.

“Because… I wanted to be the one to catch his first pokemon. I wanted to be the cool older brother that gave him a chance to choose between a group of starters and then face him in the league with that pokemon’s counterpart.” He tells you, a slight bitterness coming to his voice. You understand where he’s coming from. If you had a little sibling, you’d want to give them the world. You’d want to help shape them, help them grow and become better. Even so…

“That doesn’t mean you can’t still do it. The pokemon selection thing, I mean. You can collect the pokemon you want him to choose from and come back before he’s ready for his journey. He’ll be ecstatic!” You tell Leon, who brightens at your words.

“Yeah! You’re right. I think I’ll do just that. And by then, I’ll be Champion, so that means I can endorse him! It’ll be a real champion time!”

“Champion time?” You question the elated boy.

“Yep! I’ve been working on a catchphrase. Whaddya think?” He questions with a blindingly bright grin.

“Brilliant.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a discord now!  
> The chat room is called "#caretaker-pokemon-fanfic" with the link being https://discord.gg/YUP27t


	22. Betrayal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, I know it's been a while, but! I was just getting my life in order before continuing. However, I plan on keeping to a schedule of updating every other week from now on, usually on the weekends. Anyway! I hope you enjoy!

Leon leaves to resume his journey a couple days later. You took the time to catch up, meet his newly caught pokemon and cook some sweets. It was fun and you really can’t wait for the next time he comes over! That being said, you’re really proud of how far your friend has come and wish him the best of luck.

Nearly a week after Leon leaves, you get a couple surprise visitors.

“Marnie? Piers? I didn’t expect to see you two today.” You usher the siblings inside and offer them some tea, which they happily accept.

“We’re on our fall break and thought we’d come visit. Y’know, before Piers takes off for his journey.” Marnie tells you, which makes you fumble and almost drop your teapot.

“Wait, you’re starting your journey? I suppose your birthday is coming up soon… Geez, I completely forgot!” You pout a little. Marnie giggles at your forgetfulness, but you just feel kind of bad. How could you forget about your friend’s birthday? And such an important one?

“It’s fine. I wasn’t expecting you to remember. I mean, we barely met a few months ago.” Piers tries to soothe you, but it just makes you end up feeling worse. You’re such a bad friend.

“It’s not fine though! This is such an important birthday! You deserve something nice.” You tell him, then begin to wonder what you could get him on such short notice. You don’t wanna go into town to pick up a present, but you seriously doubt he’d want any of the items you have on you. Except maybe…

“Ah, I got it! Wait right here, I think I have something for you.” You tell the duo, then rush into your room. Eevee startles from her nap but Rookidee barely stirs from his place beside her. You pluck up your bag and rifle through it, trying to find the object you’re looking for.

While you’re searching, you don’t notice Marnie waltz into your room and start rummaging through your drawers. You do notice, however, when a cute mouse hops into your lap. Hehe, Morpeko is so cute.

“You’ve got some nice clothes, Sis. Mind if I borrow some once in a while?” Marnie asks, making you look up from her cute pokemon.

“Yeah, sure. I’ve got some accessories you might like, too.” You tell her, then gesture to your jewelry box. Her eyes light up and she begins rifling through the box, occasionally trying on an accessory or holding one out for you to look at. Eventually, Piers wanders into the room as well, apparently bored with waiting in the kitchen.

“So, you got a gift for me or what?” He asks as he plops down on your bed. You nod, then place a disc in his hand.

“It’s the TM Snarl. My mom took me TM shopping a few years ago, but I don’t know if I’ll ever use it. Who better to have it than a dark-type trainer?” You tell him with a gentle smile. Piers flips the disc between his hands, contemplating something, before he wraps you in a hug. You return it without hesitation.

The sound of a camera shuttering makes you draw away from the embrace, only to see Marnie tuck her phone away. “Oh, don’t mind me. Just getting blackmail material for later.” She says, kind of off-handedly. You and Piers share a look before simultaneously getting up and stalking towards her.

And so it begins. The Chase. Marnie takes off like a shot, out of your room and towards the front door. The three of you barrel out of your house and into the fields. Marnie is incredibly agile, despite her short legs. Piers can keep up with her easily, but you and your darn clumsy legs keep you just a bit too slow.

After nearly half an hour of chasing her around the fields, Marnie climbs a tree and looks down at the both of you with a smug smile on her face. “You think Rookidee will come to me if I whistle?” You ask Piers after a while of staring down his sister. He shrugs his shoulders in response. Worth a shot.

A shrill whistle rips from your throat and not even five minutes later, Rookidee is perched on your shoulder. Nice.

“Go get her phone, Rookidee.” You tell your partner, who cocks his head in confusion. You pull out your own phone as an example, but he betrays you and plucks it out of your hands before flying to the branch Marnie is settled on top of.

“Your bird isn’t very well trained.” Piers tells you as you watch on, betrayed. How dare he use your trust against you! You know what you’re gonna be feeding him later! Nothing but bitter berries!

“I’ve never felt so betrayed before. Rookidee! I trusted you!” You tell your partner, who just gives you a smug look. Just to add fuel to the fire, he passes your phone over to Marnie, who takes it with a bit too much glee.

“Hehe! Time to snoop~!” She sings, then starts swiping away at your phone. This is what your life has been reduced to. A traitorous bird and a conniving best friend. You suppose it’s time to stop beating around the bush.

“You leave me no choice. Terry! Operation Hen In Tree!” You shout towards your house. Not even a minute later, your Mom’s bewear is skipping up to your side, his face all smiles, but you swear there’s murderous intent in his eyes. 

~~~

You pocket your phone, then look up to the pouting prisoners in front of you. “What did you learn from this experience?”

“That Bewear can climb trees with or without passengers.” Marnie replies.

“And?”

“That your bewear knows how to tie a wicked slip knot with nothing more than a tree branch.”

“What else?”

“*Sigh* That you’re the most ultimate pokemon to have ever existed and you deserve to be praised for millenia.” She drawls out. “Even if one of your pokemon betrayed you in your time of need.” She adds on as an afterthought. You choose to ignore it.

“Right you are, my dear friend! As your punishment, Piers gets to eat all of your desserts for dinner tonight.” You tell her, then turn towards your house. Marnie lets out a disbelieving gasp.

“Cruel woman. Nay, despicable. How could you leave me here, festering and cold, whilst my brother enjoys the finest items in the Holy Grail?” She questions, her words outlandish enough to make you laugh.

“Deal with it.” You tell her, then enter your house. Piers is still chuckling about the whole thing, but you suspect he’s gonna give his sister some of his sweets either way.


End file.
